habu
Short version: We absolutely love this hotel! The wonderfully personal service, beautiful pools, fantastic restaurant, and truly amazing staff make every stay an exceptional experience.
Long version: This is already our fourth visit — and for very good reason. Everyone here is incredibly warm, welcoming, and attentive. A special mention goes to Laura at the ground-floor bar — she is simply outstanding — but the same kindness and professionalism extend to the spa team, the lovely pool staff (both upstairs and downstairs), room service (sorry for the broken glass!), the breakfast team, reception, and the staff at “1890,” the excellent on-site restaurant. You instantly feel at ease with everyone. Truly — the staff deserve 6 out of 5 stars!
The hotel itself has real character. It carries a slightly old-world charm — cozy, classic, and elegant. What stands out in particular is the immaculate cleanliness. Spotless in every sense. The beds are made twice daily, and in the evening, after siesta, you return to a freshly prepared bed with a little treat waiting for you. Everything is tasteful and refined.
It’s worth noting that the average guest age tends to be a bit older. So this is not a loud, party-style atmosphere like you might find at a W Hotel — instead, it’s calm, relaxed, and sophisticated. At the same time, the service team is mostly young, which creates a wonderfully balanced and pleasant vibe.
We highly recommend booking breakfast included. The buffet is extensive and excellent, and the terrace is simply beautiful — a perfect way to start the day.
The lobby bar has its own unique charm: live music, flawless service, great drinks, a lovely small menu, and spacious, comfortable seating make it a wonderful highlight of the hotel. The lobby bar truly feels like the heart of the place.
In addition to “1890,” which is a superb restaurant with cozy terraces and outstanding dishes, there is also a Michelin-starred restaurant on site. Unfortunately, it doesn’t offer an à la carte option — which we personally prefer — so we can’t comment further on that.
The beds are very comfortable, the shower and bathtub are excellent, and the rooms are generously sized. I recommend booking a room facing the front — the view over the entrance area toward the harbor is lovely.
Honestly, I can’t think of a single negative point. Everything was outstanding. As I said — we love this hotel!
Nicole Annan
I’m late in writing this review, but my boyfriend and I had the best stay at the Santa Catalina. What a special place! We stayed in a suite with a private patio. The room was luxurious and spacious. The building is historic with gorgeous architecture, and the grounds were so fun to explore. It really feels like a palace. We enjoyed both the rooftop and ground level pools, with their respective bars/dining. The lobby bar was lively in the evenings with live entertainment and friendly staff. There were lots of interesting people staying here - We met and made friends with several other guests. Every single staff member that we interacted with was kind and helpful. Also, the value for cost was exceptional. We felt the room rates were very reasonable, especially compared with rates in the US. We highly recommend!
Yacht Christianna
A beautiful old colonial hotel updated in a way that it has lost none of its charm or atmosphere. Raquel the great Raquel. Some minor issues on arrival but all sorted by Raquel in a business and friendly like way that kept all parties happy. Along with her staff, this was as close to home from home as you can get with the added luxury of the pools, restaurants and bars. Overall as good as it gets.
Scott Stephens
A grand historic hotel. Rooms are nice and we were there on two occasions. We had a rooms with a balcony and that gets you exclusive access to the roof top bar and pool until 5 PM.
One room had a coffee maker and the second in the same category didn’t not. No room service menu in the room, no obvious place to get an early morning coffee. The first time, I left a note asking for more coffee and got all decaf pods 🤦
In the second room the soap was out in the shower
Reception is busier than an airline terminal and a bit chaotic.
Breakfast was excellent, lobby bar was great but overwhelmed at times. Roof top bar was great, but no food in the evening.
Location isn’t too walkable to other things you want to do, but taxis are plentiful and not expensive.
I’d stay there again, but hope to see them focus on the little things that really make it a 5 star experience
Alaric Evans
This is the sort of over the top, up itself hotel that I rather like. But in a lot of ways it's not totally serious. When we checked in it took an age because complainants were lining up at reception with various different issues. Personally I thought the access to rooftop pool being limited by class of room was a bit stupid, although I have come across it before and the regular pool was very nice indeed. But why on earth don't they have blackout curtains in ( at least) our room. That is seriously weird. Taxi drivers seem very impressed by the address.
