NEW LAUNCH: Ancalá, Cartagena, Colombia | News
Ancalá, a new Colombian luxury hospitality brand rooted in architecture, art, nature and local culture, will officially launch in Cartagena in August 2026. The collection comprises Ancalá Casa de la Renta, a 500-year old colonial mansion in Cartagena’s historic Walled City; Ancalá Casas Altas, a group of architecturally significant hilltop villas on Barú Island; and Ancalá Waterfront, a restaurant and bar beneath one of Simón Vélez’s celebrated bamboo structures overlooking the Bay of Cholón. This beautiful collection of places of stay represents an exciting addition to the city’s luxury hospitality scene: intimate in scale, rich in personality and led by a conviction that preservation and progress can coexist.
Each property retains its own visual language, history and sense of geography having been styled by Swiss interior designer Diana Posen, with most furniture, textiles and artwork made locally in Colombia in an invitation to engage deeply with Cartagena.
“Ancalá was created around the belief that luxury should bring travellers closer to a destination, not insulate them from it,” says Portia Hart, Founder of Hart Hospitality. “These are buildings that have extraordinary architectural and cultural value and our role has been to give them new life, rather than impose a universal hotel aesthetic, preserving what makes them significant while creating warm, highly personal experiences for a new generation of guests.”
On Barú Island, Ancalá Casas Altas comprises six guest rooms arranged across two thatched casitas and a spacious villa overlooking the Bay of Cholón and the Rosario Islands, with rooms available to rent individually or for exclusive use. The buildings, rising organically through Barú’s vegetation, were designed by influential Colombian architects and designers Gustavo Pinto and Simón Vélez and were acquired by Ancalá’s owners with the specific intention of conserving their architectural significance. Thatched roofs, open terraces, pools and living spaces frame expansive views of sea, sky and tropical forest, allowing the architecture to serve as a frame between guests and nature beyond.
The villas include Villa Pinto, offering the best views on the property as well as its own kitchen, dining and living room, two suites, a further family bedroom, and a shared infinity pool. Casita Laguna is the most secluded and has its own private pool, terrace and space to sleep four guests making it perfect for families or honeymooners. Finally, there’s Casita Veranera, a two-bedroom casita with a shared pool and deck. The spaces are named after coral and mangrove species found within the surrounding Rosario and San Bernardo Corals National Natural Park, connecting guests to the ecology of the region.
Nearby, Ancalá Waterfront is bar and restaurant open to the public and Casas Altas guests, distinguished by a dramatic vaulted bamboo roof designed by Simón Vélez, the internationally recognised Colombian architect renowned for advancing guadua bamboo as a sophisticated structural material. Open to the elements and positioned behind the mangroves of Cholón Bay, Vélez’s work is complemented by Pinto’s highly individual approach to Caribbean living: spaces designed around shade, airflow, and an instinctive relationship with the outdoors. The restaurant’s gastronomic vision is led by chef Pedro Mosqueda, also of Blue Apple Beach and The Pink Mango, who has a strong steer on Cartagena’s evolving food culture. The restaurant’s simplicity is intentional: carefully sourced ingredients, simple preparation and a setting in which food, architecture and landscape are given equal importance. The menu is centred on fresh, Mediterranean-influenced Caribbean cooking, cooked on an outdoor grill. Ethically sourced produce informs a menu conceived for long, unhurried lunches by the water—whether guests arrive from Casas Altas, by private boat or by road.
Both Waterfront and Casas Altas can be reached by road or by boat from Cartagena. Guests arrive through Ancalá Waterfront’s private dock before making the short journey uphill to the villas, if resident.
Back in Cartagena’s Walled City, Ancalá Casa de la Renta occupies a 500-year-old colonial mansion on the historic street once associated with the city’s tobacco trade. The building takes its name from its original function as a taxation house, where merchants paid duties on goods traded through the city. Today, its six individually styled rooms, original Colombian art collection, courtyard pool, rooftop terrace, communal dining spaces and open bar create the atmosphere of a private residence rather than a traditional hotel. Again, rooms can be booked individually, or the house can be privatised.Through Ancalá’s partnership with Nuestra Cartagena, guests can experience some of the city’s leading restaurants, including Carmen and Salon Tropical, in the mansion’s beautiful dining room, allowing guests to enjoy Cartagena’s flourishing gastronomic culture on their own terms: dining around the 12-seater dining table in one of the city’s most historic homes or, hosting friends in the courtyard.Casa de la Renta is designed to function as both a base for first-time exploration and a home for those returning to Cartagena.
Across all three properties, Ancalá’s philosophy is grounded in the idea that the true luxury of travel lies not only in where one goes, but in how one lives while there. The brand’s approach combines professional service with the natural warmth of Colombian hospitality. Guests are encouraged to engage with Cartagena’s architecture, food, art, ecology and communities through experiences that feel personal rather than prescribed.
Ancalá is proudly committed to sustainability and community engagement through its associated non-profits, Somos Barú, the Fundación Centro Historico and the Green Apple Foundation, which are focussed on preserving heritage, reducing waste, creating jobs and offering education in underserved communities in Cartagena and its Islands.
Ancalá showcases five-star hospitality through a distinctly Colombian lens: warm, personal, elegant and representative of the spirit of Cartagena.
Nightly rates begin at US$350 at Ancalá Casa de la Renta and US$550 at Ancalá Casas Altas. Breakfast is included at both hotels . Casa de la Renta also includes access to its self-service open bar. Boat transfers to Barú are available at an additional cost.
For further information, visit ancala.co