One Santuario Natural

Style

Hobbit-hut hideaway

Setting

Private Palomino perch

A couple of miles out of Palomino in northern Colombia, boutique hotel One Santuario Natural is a romantic riverside retreat where Kogi shamans occasionally stay for supper. This labour of love is a hotel with a whole lot of heart: the owner takes his role as a custodian of the land seriously, protecting the indigenous Kogi community and its traditions as he welcomes travellers to this increasingly accessible part of the country. Each of the thatched circular palapa huts has a hot tub, hammocks and local handicrafts like embroidered pillows. The Palomino River winds all the way down to the Caribbean Sea, with the snow-capped Sierra Nevada de Santa Marta range in the background. If you don’t know what tubing is, you’re about to find out (luckily, here it involves ice-cold beers).

Facilities

Rooms

Six suites.

Checkout

Noon, but flexible, subject to availability. Earliest check-in, 3pm.

More Details

Rates include breakfast.

Also

The jungle-surrounded, riverbank setting means that unfortunately One Santuario Natural is not easily accessible for wheelchair users.

Free Internet Access

On-Site Restaurant

Room Service

At the Hotel

Riverside beach, library, free WiFi. In rooms: air-conditioning, minibar, tea and coffee kit, and beach bags.

Our Favourite Rooms

Each thatched, Bilbo Baggins-approved bolthole has a similar design, with ceiling fans, a circular shape, and a mosaic-lined hot tub, shower, and some hammocks and sunloungers outside. The main difference is whether you want one king-size bed or two queens. For the most privacy, book the room at the furthest end of the plot.

Poolside

There’s no pool but each palapa has its own hot tub that can be filled on request. Staff will also gladly set up sunloungers on the banks of the Palomino River, where you can spot the howler monkeys swinging between the trees and follow the steps down to the water for a dip.

Spa

Wellness is at the core of One Santuario Natural, and as such, their offerings are extensive. Couples can align their chakras and balance their vibrations with sessions of bioenergetic chiropratic therapy, sound healing and Yin Yang herbal river baths, while individual treatments range from acupuncture and cupping to geothermal therapy with hot volcanic stones. There are a number of traditional rituals and rites performed on site, too; take your pick of mud baths, cacao ceremonies, or a detoxifying immersion experience in The Steam House.

Packing Tips

You’ll need tubing-appropriate swimwear, and a whole series of magical-realism literature to work your way through.

Also

Yoga classes can be arranged on request for an additional cost.

Children

All ages are welcome, but there’s not a lot for Little Smiths to do. Extra beds (300,000 pesos a night) can be added, and rooms with two queen-size beds are available. The chef can cater to children in the restaurant.

Gallery

Food & Drink

Top Table

There are private tables available (in twos and fours), but you’ll be missing out on the fun at the communal one (in fact, you’ll probably want to hang out with the staff who seem to be having the best time in the kitchen).

Dress Code

Bust out your boldest patterns and prints to have a Hawaiian-shirt-off with the colourfully clothed chef, Cható.

Hotel Restaurant

Chef Cható and his team cooks up a different set menu each day, taking into account any dietary requirements and preferences. Breakfast follows this pattern, with a full English on the agenda once a week, and other options, such as pancakes with roasted mango, pomelo, mint, local honey and toasted quinoa for the other days, including, of course, as much Colombian coffee as your heart rate can manage. The open-plan kitchen lets you watch the team at work as they cook produce from nearby suppliers (when it’s not straight from the grounds) on the fire. Lunch and dinner might be strawberry gazpacho, followed by a whole roasted fish with tomatoes and potatoes (and some punchy house-made habanero and mango salsa), and banana bread and coconut cream; all served on pretty black ceramic plates from Ráquira.

Hotel Bar

There’s a bar in the longhouse, which serves an especially good take on the classic Colombian limonada de coco (a sort of coconut limeade) and cocktails made using fresh fruit juice, to a banging-beats soundtrack (which manages to successfully avoid panpipes).

Last Orders

Breakfast hours are 8am to 10am; lunch is 1pm to 4pm; and dinner is served between 7pm and 9.30pm. Drinks are available until 11pm.

Room Service

Anything on the daily set menu can be served in your room.

Planes

The nearest airport is Colombia’s Simón Bolívar International Airport along the coast in Santa Marta. The drive should take an hour and a half. Hotel transfers cost 220,000 pesos each way (you can drop those eyebrows; it’s around £50).

Automobiles

Palomino is the nearest town, a 10-minute drive away. It is considered one of the safest spots in Colombia, but it’s still probably not that wise to drive after dark; plus the highways here are often hogged by huge trucks, so keep that in mind if you’re hiring a car. There’s free parking when you arrive.

Worth Getting Out of Bed For

This coastal Caribbean paradise has some of the best beaches in Colombia, with lively bars along the shore and seafood shacks serving up simple-but-superb, just-caught fish. You’ll even be able to see snow-capped peaks from the sand, thanks to the Sierra Nevada de Santa Marta mountains (with all of their hiking-to-waterfalls promise) looming in the distance.

If you like your activities inflatable-based, you’ve come to the right place: Palomino is a premier spot for tubing and you can coast along the river towards the sea, with a floating bar accompanying you if that’s how you roll (/drift). You’ll also be able to coast along on a paddle-board if your core’s up to it. It’s not always possible, but the hotel may also be able to help guests meet some local Kogi people – and even a Mamo (shaman) if you’re lucky. Experienced surfers can ride the riptide on Palomino Beach.

Forget Machu Picchu: Colombia’s Ciudad Perdida (Lost City) is thought to be 650 years older than Peru’s famous Inca site. It’s deep in the Sierra Nevada, and not quite doable in a day trip – unless you fly over in a helicopter with Galavanta Helitours. The Riohacha region on the Venezualan border does have day-trip potential, especially good news if you’re a flamingo fan: there’s a colony of the pretty pink birds in the Los Flamencos Sanctuary near Camarones in La Guajira, on the coastal road between Santa Marta and Riohacha. For twitchers, there’s plenty of bird-watching opportunities within the rainforest as well, especially helpful if your preferred avians are parrots and toucans.

The Tayrona National Natural Park is about an hour’s drive away from the hotel. Here, hikes through golden, palm-lined beaches, dense rainforest, mangroves and more of that towering coastal mountain range await.

Earn or Redeem Points with World of Hyatt

This Mr & Mrs Smith hotel participates in the World of Hyatt loyalty program. As a member, you can earn and redeem points and enjoy exclusive benefits for qualifying nights. .