HOTEL BOUTIQUE CASA FARALLONES

QUIRKY COMFORT WITHIN GREAT VALUE CONFINES

IN THE HEART OF CALI, COLOMBIA

On check out, Hotel Boutique Casa Farallones Cali Colombia’s machine was not processing Visa cards.

I was directed, on departure day, to go to an ATM to pay full in cash.

I didn't want to lose air miles or proof of purchase that Visa delivers.

They demanded US dollars, then gave most of them back.

It took a few days, stressed communications and using PayPal to pay my bill.

The hotel is like staying with an oddball family, albeit in a great location at a great price.

They mean well -- they just are nothing corporate at all.

Overall, with six nights’ stay costing half what one night would cost in New York -- I’ll be back.

HOTEL BOUTIQUE CASA FARALLONES

QUIRKY COMFORT WITHIN GREAT VALUE CONFINES

IN THE HEART OF CALI, COLOMBIA

The Hotel Boutique Casa Farallones Cali Colombia could benefit from having a staff member who speaks decent English.

I communicated in my mediocre Spanish in person and used Google Translate via WhatsApp to talk to the manager.

Some things were missed.

I wanted no housekeeping, but came back late one night to find my misarranged because a housekeeper had serviced it.

I did a day trip a day late over confusion with the manager on booking a driver for a faraway trip, not in-town visiting.

HOTEL BOUTIQUE CASA FARALLONES

QUIRKY COMFORT WITHIN GREAT VALUE CONFINES

IN THE HEART OF CALI, COLOMBIA

The Rio Cali, and its wonderful park filled with cat sculptures, is very close by Hotel Boutique Casa Farallones in Cali Colombia.

Breakfast is about 2 dollars and includes coffee, hot chocolate, toast, arepas and eggs done many ways.

For security, they lock the front door. 

You can get out at any time, but to get back in, you need to ring a buzzer.

I think it dates back to rougher times -- I felt 100% safe all over Cali, even well past midnight, and the Casa Farallones neighborhood is quiet, sleepy and safe around the clock. 

I would return.

HOTEL BOUTIQUE CASA FARALLONES

QUIRKY COMFORT WITHIN GREAT VALUE CONFINES

IN THE HEART OF CALI, COLOMBIA

The Hotel Boutique Casa Farallones Cali Colombia air conditioning  is strong – a huge positive because a lot of properties in Cali do not have AC despite 90 degree days.

Platillos Valadores, world class restaurant, is practically next door.

We had some confusion, but they ultimately found me an English speaking driver who took me past gorgeous scenery in Cauca -- to historic/colonial Popayan -- and back for $60 USD (a tour company would want triple).

HOTEL BOUTIQUE CASA FARALLONES

QUIRKY COMFORT WITHIN GREAT VALUE CONFINES

IN THE HEART OF CALI, COLOMBIA

Hotel Boutique Casa Farallones Cali Colombia is quirky.

They try to charge you for shampoo, but it's only a dollar per packet.

They do not speak English.

Google translate use is a must unless you speak Spanish.

An odd (mainly all restaurants and drug stores but with a tremendous supermarket) mall is very close by and the dorm sized fridge allows you to store some milk, berries and beverages.

HOTEL BOUTIQUE CASA FARALLONES

QUIRKY COMFORT WITHIN GREAT VALUE CONFINES

IN THE HEART OF CALI, COLOMBIA

The Hotel Boutique Casa Farallones Cali Colombia value/price point is incredible.

The hotel also was super quiet at night -- something not all properties in Cali can deliver.

The location is great.

You are walking distance from colonial San Antonio, posh El Penon, vibrant Granada and quirky Centro neighborhoods -- 

Most of what a visitor would want to see in terms of museums, restaurants, architecture, music, nightlife, culture, etc.

 

STREET FOOD -- MEMELAS

OAXACA CITY, MEXICO

Similar to the sopes you may find in other parts of Mexico, memelas are thick, toasted masa cakes that are often eaten earlier in the day (some households will even serve them for breakfast). 

Grilled on a comal just long enough to crisp up the edges but before they become crunchy, the masa cakes are then topped with refried black beans and queso fresco, though you can also find them layered with shredded cabbage, salsa, mole negro, tinga (shredded and stewed chicken), potatoes, etc. 

If you see a comal and it’s earlier in the day, you’ve likely stumbled upon memelas. 

For some of the best in the city, head to Itanoní Antojeria y Tortilleria, a restaurant that resurrects and cooks with heirloom corn varieties in traditional Oaxacan foods.

--Saveur

A WALK THROUGH LITTLE HAVANA ON A SPRING DAY

HEIDI'S NEIGHBORHOOD RAP 

I'm made my life in Miami's Little Havana neighborhood now for 13 years. Little Havana is beautiful and gritty. Tranquil and urban. Familiar and exotic. We're 50,000 of Miami's 392,000 residents. Ninety-three percent of us speak Spanish at the dinner table. Seventy-four percent are foreign born. -- Heidi Johnson-Wright

Down the sidewalk at a gentle pace

Humidity surrounds like a lover's embrace

Bungalows and stucco and mission-style homes

Spanish spoken with the rhythm of poems

Grassy swales with trash pits and coconut palms

Fuschia bougainvillea and fire-red flamboyans

Little dogs defending turf, stray cats wary

Cut grass and peppery surinam cherry 

Simmering chicken broth and picuala's apple scent

Neon-green lizard chased by strutting banty hen

Salsa and son and reggaeton

Cumbia, soca and bachata tones

To the window for a cortadito 

Into the bodega, need a pastelito

Blue eyes give me away before I speak my gringa Spanish

But it's OK, I'm accepted -- no need to vanish

Girl at the counter says: "mi vida"

We just met but I'm her life, her senorita

http://earthboundtomboy.blogspot.com/2015/05/a-walk-through-little-havana-on-spring.html