Hotel Boutique Bovedas de Santa Clara is ideal for romance or family. Large, cozy rooms can come with a kitchen, and a view of the Caribbean Sea or the walls of Cartagena. Enjoy the Sofitel Legend Santa Clara facilities, like El Claustro y Jardín restaurant, with sustainable cuisine, or El Coro Lounge Bar, serving delicious drinks and a pool with a bar. The Boutique Hotel has a Spa and business center.

Located in the centre of Cartagena, the 18th-century colonial Casa Pestagua - a former aristocratic mansion - offers modern luxuries in a historic setting and convenient access to the port city's essential sights, such as the Museo Historico de Cartagena. The luxury boutique hotel features 16 airy, contemporary guest rooms and suites with neutral hues and natural materials. An upscale restaurant draws inspiration from the bounty of Colombia's Caribbean and Pacific coasts. Added amenities include a private nearby beach, cocktail bar, outdoor pool, fitness center and spa.

Designed by fashion designer Silvia Tcherassi, the Nacar Hotel Cartagena is one of the most striking boutique hotels in the city. Think high ceilings, rich wood floors, beautiful vertical gardens made from more than 3,000 local plants and exposed red and white brick throughout. Each room has a unique flair, but expect freestanding soaking tubs, large walk-in rainfall showers and glitzy, luxury bedding. If this weren’t enough, the hotel also has an outdoor pool, two restaurants and a rooftop terrace.

Considered by many to be the top boutique hotel in Cartagena, Casa San Agustín is as luxurious as it gets. Resembling a lavish palace more than a hotel, common spaces including a solarium, a colonial-style library and several meeting rooms are filled with crystal chandeliers, beautiful tapestry hanging from the walls and lush green plants. The rooms are no different, with marble-floored bathrooms, huge walk-in rain showers, four-poster canopy beds in some spaces and iPads. The chic swimming pool (partly covered by Cartagena’s former aqueduct), on-site spa and atmospheric Alma Restaurant are spectacular too.

The Anandá Hotel Boutique by Cosmos sits inside a romantic 16th-century colonial mansion and has a divine swimming pool, a rooftop hot tub and a treatment room. Suites have original features such as low wood-beamed ceilings, wooden floors and Juliet balconies overlooking the interior garden. Relax on a poolside daybed before walking to the Getsemaní district for dinner at the delicious Celele Restaurant.

With just seven chic suites in a colonial mansion, the Amarla Boutique Hotel ensures privacy, tranquility and personalised service. Colombian wildlife and botanicals form the design palette, while communal spaces are home to an abundance of tropical foliage. Enjoy the à la carte breakfast and fantastic coffee in the open-air gallery before climbing the winding staircase to the rooftop for a swim, cooling breezes and marvellous vistas of the old city.

Hotel Quadrifolio sits inside a beautifully preserved 17th-century colonial mansion in the heart of Cartagena’s walled city. Each bright, stylishly designed room features high wood-beamed ceilings, huge arched windows with wood shutters and lush garden views, along with handmade furniture, local artwork and fresh flowers. However, the pièce de résistance is the rooftop terrace. Here, you can soak in a hydromassage tub or relax on a sun lounger as you take in views of the city and the Caribbean Sea.

Hotel Casa La Fe’s quaint rooms are centred around a beautiful, jungle-like courtyard, where a fresh à la carte breakfast and premium Colombian coffee are served each morning. Highlights include a rooftop plunge pool, a lookout point with panoramic views of the old town, classically designed rooms featuring tiled floors and handcrafted furniture, and free-to-use bikes to explore the city.

Lennon and Robert de Niro, El Marqués has captivated the attention of the rich and famous since the 1970s. Retaining 16th-century colonial features, such as thick stone archways and walls, wood-beamed ceilings and beautiful wooden floors, the atmospheric common spaces here look as they would have more than 400 years ago. You can relax in the beautiful courtyard swimming pool before having dinner at Bohemia, the on-site restaurant serving Colombian-European fusion dishes.