The Tamesis
“It feels like a huge responsibility,” confirms Laura Acevedo, who oversees the project as concept and design director for project developer Santo Domingo Family. “This property is so unique that everything inside had to be unique.” The choice of Catroux – known for his residential properties – as one of the property’s lead designers was very intentional. “We didn’t want the hotel to feel like a hotel,” Acevedo continues, noting that’s why they designed so many details from scratch with the help of local craftsmen. “This feels like an opportunity to show the world what Colombia can do.”
This is a directive from the top. “Our goal from the beginning was to put the destination in the driver’s seat, ensuring that the architecture and interiors felt thoughtful, respectful, and integral to Cartagena itself,” Alejandro Reynal, Four Seasons’ president and CEO, told me later. He said it was a “perfect reflection” of his vision for the brand’s future: “Thoughtfully entering destinations, working closely with local communities and creating experiences that immerse guests in their surroundings.”
This connection to the surrounding environment is evident in every space in the hotel, from the stunning mural of lush tropical landscapes that adorns the ceiling of the Grand Grill—a classic American steakhouse that marks Carbone founder Major Food Group’s first foray into South America and serves delicious shrimp cocktails—to the Art Deco-style glass doorways and inlaid wood mirrors found throughout the hotel. “Even if you don’t pay attention to every little detail, I think you can feel it,” Acevedo said. “It’s all in harmony.”
You can really feel it: the soothing cream and black tones in every space, or the airy corridors that perfectly connect one building to another, or the palpable respect for its bones. (I was particularly fascinated by the room’s stone pillars that poked out of the walls.) Although during my three nights in Cartagena, my favorite hotel nook was just outside my bedroom: a wicker chair and cushioned footstool overlooking a quiet cloister, with four giant banyan trees nestled in the center, their tendrils dappled with different shades of sunlight throughout the day. It doesn’t get any cuter than this.
