Retire Early Lifestyle
Retirement; like your parents, but way cooler

In 1991 Billy and Akaisha Kaderli retired at the age of 38. Now, into their 4th decade of this financially independent lifestyle, they invite you to take advantage of their wisdom and experience.

Hotel El Viajero #2

Billy and Akaisha Kaderli

Billy got a great deal from Guadalajara, Mexico to Cartagena, Colombia on COPA Airlines. At $373USD round trip per person, we couldn't say no.

We knew that we wanted to stay inside the Walled City of Cartagena because the photos of the Colonial past along with the Caribbean colored buildings here would be more our style than its modern counterpart.

We began looking for hotels online, and our biggest decision was whether to stay in a hotel with a pool or not.

Prices for hotels with pools were 2 and 3++ times what Hotel El Viajero #2 offered, so we made the decision to try this one out.

It was an excellent choice. 

Outdoor tiled sign for Hotel El Viajero No. 2

In doing our research, we noticed that this hotel had won some awards for service and had many tourist recommendations, so we felt pretty good about booking this online.

I did not have to place a deposit, but I did need to enter my credit card number on the hotel site to reserve our room. Nothing would be charged to my card until we arrived and signed the receipt. And, there was no cancellation fee.

At $50USD a night, centrally located, bright, clean and modern, we booked our room for 11 nights.

Reception area with the hotel awards behind the hotel worker

Located about 15 minutes from the airport, we paid a taxi driver 20,000COP (about $6USD) to take us to our hotel. It was 3pm when we arrived in town and it was hot, hot, hot.

Initially, the taxi driver dropped us off at Hotel Viajero #1 - which was older and more of a hostel than a hotel room. We had to climb stairs to get to the reception area, which was smaller than this one.

The hotel workers at Viajero #1 were friendly and helpful, and one of them walked me down the street about 6 doors to their sister hotel, Viajero #2.

Oh!

And this one was so much better!

Middle floor coffee and ice station

About 13 stairs up you'll find this coffee and ice station which really came in handy. Any time of day or night you could get fresh made ice or hot Colombian coffee for free. Coffee cups were also supplied.

Nice touch.

In the mirror you can see the lobby downstairs and the 2nd floor lobby after the next series of 13 steps.

Second floor lobby

A large flat-screen TV, several comfortable chairs, tables and a sofa, there were also chairs where you could look out over the 2nd story veranda. The building straight across the street - oddly - had a plain white wall. There were no vine-style plants, no Caribbean mural. So to look directly outside the balcony, it  gave an impression of a cloudy day.

!!

From the veranda towards the 3rd story stairway

In this photo of the second story lobby, you get a clearer view of the computers available for guest use.

When we arrived, the internet was down. But (due to Billy's persistence) it was up and running the next day.

To tide us over, we went next door to the Burger Bar, had some lunch, and utilized their internet code to get internet in our hotel room.

A typical room for a family

Many hotels offer suites, deluxe rooms, standard rooms and rooms to house a family. This is a photo of a typical family hotel room. Single bed, double bed and bunk beds.

Clean bathroom

The bathrooms were very clean. Of course we had bath towels and a bath mat, but also shampoo, cream rinse and a shower cap.

We were surprised that - at the level of service this hotel offered - that we did not have hot water in our shower. That being said, it was in the low 90s with very high humidity.

Who would want a hot shower in this kind of weather?

(Spoiler alert: Billy!)

Contact information for Hotel Viajero #2

Here is the contact information for this hotel. To make it easier, we have also placed it below.

Another fine feature of this hotel, was that it was an excellent location. Right smack dab in the middle of town, we could walk to anywhere that we wanted to see. We would recommend this for your next visit to the Walled City of Cartagena.

Hotel El Viajero No. 2

 Facebook and Instagram: @hotelviajero2

Whatsapp: 31 7711 1059

Telephone: 095. 664. 9518

Calle del Porvenir Noo 35-50 Centro

Cartagena – Bolivar Colombia

Website: www.hotelviajero2.com 

For more information on Colombia, with photos, stories and videos, click here

Retire Early Lifestyle appeals to a different kind of person – the person who prizes their independence, values their time, and who doesn’t want to mindlessly follow the crowd.

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