Hotel Nutibara: A Historic Hotel in El Centro

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Hotel Nutibara (photo by Luis Perez)
Hotel Nutibara (photo by Luis Perez)

I have now been living in Medellín for over four years but before I started living here, I traveled to the city for shorter periods and stayed at Hotel Nutibara a couple of times.

I stayed at Hotel Nutibara as it is conveniently located close to several of the tourist sites in El Centro and it is centrally located and is only as short walk to the Parque Berrio metro station, enabling easy access to the rest of the city.

A short distance from Hotel Nutibara you can find several tourist sites including: Museo de Antioquia, Plaza Botero and several of the notable churches in the city including Iglesia de La Candelaria and Iglesia de la Veracruz.

Near to the hotel you will also find the chaotic downtown shopping in El Centro known as El Hueco where you can find many bargains.

Also nearby is Palacio Nacional, which is one of the more unique shopping malls in the city with hundreds of small shops.

The prices in Hotel Nutibara are also much cheaper than many of the more luxurious hotels found in El Poblado.

Standard double room in hotel (photo by Hotel Nutibara)
Standard double room in hotel (photo by Hotel Nutibara)

More About the Hotel

The Nutibara Hotel is considered a landmark and just about every taxi driver will know where it is. The hotel was built about 70 years ago, and it was considered the top hotel in Medellín back in the 50s.

The hotel has 132 rooms with four different types of rooms: Standard, Superior, Suite and Presidential. The Standard rooms come in several types – with a double bed, with two twin beds or with three beds.

Each of the rooms has a television, air conditioning, small security safe, hot water and minibar. They also have free Wi-Fi available for customers in the hotel. A few of the rooms also have private balconies.

On the first floor of the hotel is a food court with several fast food places you would typically find at a shopping mall, including Mis Carnes Parrilla, Mimo’s and Juan Valdez Café.

The food court in the hotel
The food court in the hotel

My Impressions of Hotel Nutibara

The hotel is an older hotel from a bygone age with spacious rooms. It provides easy access to several of the main tourist sites in the city as well as the Medellín metro. The location is the best feature of the hotel.

The rooms are outdated and are in need of renovation, but the hotel has done some renovation projects over the past couple of years. But don’t expect a modern room in Hotel Nutibara like you would find in a recently built hotel.

I considered the hotel a good value for the price when I stayed there; I chose the hotel primarily for the location and price.

The bus from the airport also stops directly behind the hotel, making it convenient for budget travelers.

In my experience, the staff in Hotel Nutibara were friendly and helpful, and they have a few employees who speak English.

Take care around the hotel, particularly after dark, as there are rougher areas a few blocks away. Use a taxi or Uber after dark for going to/from the hotel.

Hotel Nutibara’s Prices

I recommend calling the hotel directly to make a reservation as you can sometimes find rates lower than are found on some of the hotel booking sites.

It is best to have someone fluent in Spanish make the call, as they sometimes quote lower prices to Colombians speaking fluent Spanish. Also, check out the hotel website as they sometimes run promotions.

I checked prices for rooms at Hotel Nutibara next month for a two-night stay for two people and the standard room with a double bed was 255,840 pesos ($89) for two nights and for a superior room with a double bed it was 295,840 pesos ($103).

For a standard room with three beds, it was 344,000 pesos ($120). So the prices per night for pretty basic rooms runs about $50-60 per night.

Hotel Nutibara fills up quickly for popular dates such as the Feria de Las Flores (Festival of the Flowers) held in August and during the Christmas and New Years holidays.

I recommend making reservations well in advance for popular dates.

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Jeff first discovered Colombia back in 2006 and has traveled to all the major cities in Colombia. He is fortunate to have lived over seven years in Medellín. He is also studying Spanish to become fluent.

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1 COMMENT

  1. Great article once again Jeff. I stayed in the hotel for a couple of nights a few years back and agree with everything you have said. It is a decent hotel, at a very affordable price point but the rooms are getting really rather dated now. Also worth a mention are the staff. They are nothing short of fantastic – they really can’t do enough for you.

    I would like to reiterate the safety point you raised. When I lived in El Centro, both my room mates were robbed (one twice in two weeks) by groups of older teenagers with knives in this area so you really do need to be very careful. It is not too bad during the day but in the evening and night time it really can be very dangerous. Having said that a fellow gringo, John Mariani,.was sadly shot dead in a failed robbery attempt in Pablado last month so I guess it’s not just Centro which can be a bit ‘edgy’.