La Passion by Masaya

Passion doesn’t have to declare itself loudly. La Passion, an eight-room boutique hotel in a Spanish Colonial manor house in Cartagena, Colombia, is quiet, intimate, and about as elegant as it gets — and the adults-only policy certainly doesn’t hurt. At this size, it would hardly qualify as a hotel at all, were it not for a couple of remarkable big-hotel luxuries, most notably the rooftop swimming pool and the terrace cocktail bar.

Both of which tend to be mercifully uncrowded — La Passion holds a maximum of sixteen people, and given the inherently romantic nature of the place, they tend to spend a fair bit of time in the stunning guest rooms. Interiors are simple, but far from minimal — some original 18th-century flooring, some classic antique furnishings, and the occasional modern element, like printed wallpaper or bright contemporary colors. Balconies provide a venue for private al fresco lounging, and the ambience of the historic city center of Cartagena makes for an inspiring backdrop. The down side, if there is one, is that La Passion isn’t completely self-contained, lacking such facilities as a restaurant — but then a guest house of this modest size wouldn’t be expected to have one anyway, and you wouldn’t want them to add anything that might spoil the mood…

How to get there:
La Passion Hotel is approximately a 30-minute drive from Cartagena–Rafael Núñez International Airport.