Bogota Blogger

La Casa de Felipe is listed in guide books like Lonely Planet, and my friend Mark had stayed there over Christmas break and recommended it. It’s not on the beach, but a less than 10-minute walk up the hill from there, and being on the beach in Taganga is not such a big deal, actually. There are a couple other hostels in town (one called Pelikan, on the main road, looks pretty charming and they said they were charging $20,000 per person (about $8.50 at the moment). And there are some hotels, but Casa de Felipe offers just about everything you could get at the types of hotels that seemed to be available, and for better prices. Our room was about $23, but had a private bath. It’s possible to get cheaper accomodations there, though, by sharing a bath. The place itself is kind of an oasis, lots of hammocks, terraces, trees and flowers. The hammocks are for lounging, but they are willing to rent them out for sleeping when rooms are tight. Good for backpackers but also enough of a hotel to be comfortable in general. Like most places on the coast except for the most upscale, they have no hot water, but the water is warm to start with and hot water not really necessary.

You can get a lot of advice about things to do at Casa de Felipe, from the staff and from other folks hanging out. At night there’s a lot of hanging out on the terraces, and we met a girl selling handmade jewelry who lives nearby and then took us to her house to have a tarot-reading by a Peruvian guy that was staying with her.

They also serve breakfast, beer and soft drinks, and have internet access (all for a price, but a low price) here. Guests can use the kitchen themselves for cooking in the afternoon and evening.

The rooms are basic, but have some charm. There will definitely be a hammock or two or three right outside your door, so just spend some time laying around reading. There is a family next door who will do laundry for not bad prices, if you need that. And there’s a cat and a friendly dog or two roaming around, but that’s true just about anywhere in Colombia.  Their website has lots more info and fotos, as well as some specifics about tourist activities, such as a six-day hiking trip to the Ciudad Perdida (The Lost City).

This entry was posted on Monday, April 9th, 2007 at 10:19 pm and is filed under Out of Town Trips, Accomodations Around Colombia. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.