Fenix Beach Club & Hotel Cartagena

This resort is a good alternative to the Rosarios although the beach and water quality do not compare. Here are the pros and cons:- PROS- Only 10 mins transit time from the city. Well trained, attentive, friendly staff. CONS- overly long check-in process (even if you have pre-paid). If you are overnighting then food and drink will double the cost of your stay. The site needs some TLC - one of our party cut herself on a corroded shower door (see pic)

Very Disappointing Experience Important notice: Almost all rooms do NOT have hot water. This information was not visible during booking. We stayed 5 nights at Fenix Beach Cartagena and were overall very dissatisfied. After arriving at 5:20 pm, we had to wait over 1.5 hours for our room. Even during check-in, other guests were already complaining about the conditions. The assigned room did not match the photos online. The shower and toilet are outdoor, with many mosquitoes and no mosquito net. Only on site were we informed that almost all rooms do not have hot water. Our luggage arrived hours later and was dragged through the sand during transport. After long discussions, we were given a room with hot water. Two days later, however, we were told to either pay extra or move back to a room without hot water. We paid to avoid cold showers. Despite staying in the suite, there was no room cleaning, no room service, and no replacement of towels or toilet paper during the entire stay. The resort appears poorly maintained and much older than stated. In our opinion, many of the positive reviews come from day visitors who come only for the beach club parties. Guests looking for peace and relaxation should avoid this hotel. At check-out, despite prior confirmation, the reception suddenly demanded an additional 200,000 COP, which was only withdrawn after another discussion. Conclusion: Our expectations were disappointed in nearly every aspect. We would not recommend this hotel.

Staying at Fénix Hotel was an incredible experience from start to finish. The food alone deserves a standing ovation — the Pasta del Mar is easily top 10 of all time. Fresh, flavorful, and perfectly balanced… truly unforgettable. The service was outstanding: bilingual, warm, prompt, and genuinely attentive. Every interaction felt thoughtful and personal. Add to that great music, a relaxed yet vibrant atmosphere, and you have the perfect Caribbean vibe. What really sets Fénix apart is their deep respect for the ecosystem. You can feel the intention behind every detail (working with nature, not against it). Sustainable, conscious, and beautifully executed without sacrificing comfort or luxury. I absolutely loved every moment. 100% recommended. My only regret? One night was not enough. Next time, I’m booking at least 3 nights — no question.

Awesome place to stay! Great views, nice rooms, enjoyable atmosphere on the property, great food and drinks, awesome staff, dj’s every day. Can’t say enough good things, I had so much fun during my stay here and it wasn’t overcrowded or anything. Getting to and from was super easy. Made friends with a lot of dogs and cats as well!

Fénix is my go-to place to reconnect with nature, friends, and the sea. It’s just a 10-minute boat ride from Cartagena, with hotel transfers available at scheduled times—something to keep in mind when booking flights.||The rooms and villas are spacious, spotless, and beautifully designed with a beachy boho-chic vibe. We especially loved the open-air showers and the eco-friendly amenities, which perfectly align with the hotel’s sustainable concept.||During our stay, there was a DJ every day. Afternoons had more electronic music, while evenings featured a variety of genres. Despite this, the atmosphere remains peaceful, as the music areas are well separated from the quieter zones.||Morning yoga classes were a highlight, as well as enjoying the sea and breathtaking sunrises—perfect for recharging. The staff at Fénix is outstanding: warm, attentive, and always willing to help. The food is delicious and varied, and the homemade breakfast bread is a must.||Highly recommended. ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐

So I just did a day pass here… BUT Google won’t let me post without selecting stars for the rooms and everything….Unfortunately, this beach is just not that perfect crystal clear ocean blue and white sandy beach- so if you’re looking for that- spend the time to boat out to a further from the mainland island. But obviously, that’s no fault of the Fenix resort. Anyway, the booking process itself was commendably organized. From chatting via WhatsApp to book the day pass (seamless/ easy) to catching the boat and knowing where to go once at the island, etc. they basically make the experience “idiot proof.” we got the day pass with lunch- but I probably should have ordered a different lunch item - my seafood pasta was a bit bland. :( the calamari and shrimp were fine- not great. but the rest of the food people got near me honestly looked great!!- I probably just picked wrong. The desert was good. I had the arroz con leche. My mom had the coco flan and she said it was yummy. Love that they greet you with a beer right when you arrive. Good touch. The facilities are clean- there’s an outdoor shower. There are a few beach vendors who try to sell items (necklaces, jet ski’ tours, etc) but they are not obnoxious about it and leave you alone after you say no. Staff is very friendly and helpful though. Shout out to them. Maybe some ocean floating beds or something would be nice. Theres nothing currently- just the water. Also there is music playing the entire time. If you are wanting like some “quiet beach time” this might not be for you. Good music selection though so I didn’t mind.

Would not recommend Fenix for a wedding, sadly. We recently held our wedding here and although it has its upsides, it's a beautiful space and the staff are generally very friendly, overall it was a poor and stressful experience. I suspect the issue lies with management; I got the impression they don’t know how to run a business. When working with a venue, you want to feel like they care about your special day and will do anything to make it go well. This was the opposite of our experience. With Fenix, it felt like they would do anything to squeeze every last penny out of us, even resorting to being quite deceptive at times. Whether it was the drinks, the boats, or organizing guests staying in the hotel, we were always discovering hidden fees or finding that prices and rules had changed. Everything was more expensive than the standard price for regular guests for seemingly no reason whatsoever. Even though we were buying rooms, drinks, and boat trips in bulk, they always tried to charge us MORE than what a standard guest would pay. We had to fight tooth and nail just to get the standard price. It was difficult to get a clear answer on pricing, and then we’d get hit with new prices or hidden fees last minute—for example, tips and "donations to the community" were added without consulting us. This felt deliberate and deceptive; far from feeling like they cared about our day, we had to be constantly on guard. Beyond being annoying, this is just bad business. If we had felt like the hotel cared, we likely would have ended up spending significantly more with them than we did. But because the relationship was such hard work, we were always defensive instead. No one at the hotel even congratulated us on getting married. They didn't do anything special with our room, or offer a gift. It would have meant a lot even just to receive a card, which is free to do! A tip for the management: doing these small, basic things would likely have meant we spent way more with the hotel and that we would now be telling more people to get married at Fenix rather than advising people to avoid it. As I said, the setting is amazing and the staff are really nice and helpful. I hope the management can take these learnings and improve, as it’s a shame that such a nice place is so hard to recommend.

I wavered back and forth thinking that the bad reviews were difficult people who had been “wronged” and that the property looked great and it was affordable!|I was wrong. Not the worst experience of my life, I mean- beach, waves, free time- but man do I wish I made a different choice. We almost went home early rather than stay here. Here’s why:|1. No hot water |2. Not great food |3. Constant techno music, even when no one is listening |4. Construction noise late into the night|4. The motorcycles and trash everywhere |5. strangest feeling that the resort is for the staff and that you are tolerated. They out number the guests 3 to one, but I am not sure what their duties are. Often there will be 8 people behind the bar with one serving or 5 at the front desk and everyone is on their phones except one person. When we checked in, there was only one guy to carry 5 couples bags to their rooms, even though there were 6 staff in the lobby. Currently I am on the beach and the loungers next to me are all taken by staff on their phones and there is a game of soccer being played by children of the staff in the main area. I am super happy to see many people employed and enjoying themselves, but it is a very strange atmosphere. There seems to be only one manager that I have noticed, but she only works breakfast. This began from the moment we boarded the boat in Cartagena, staff members yelling into phones and making lewd hand gestures at cameras. |I am not a prude, but I have been on staff at a resort and on a cruise ship before, and it honestly feels like there is no management. |TL:DR Don’t stay. Find another resort on Tierra Bomba or another island. I have an A+