HOTEL LAS ACACIAS

Fifty-Five Years in the Same Garden

Hotel Campestre Las Acacias has been run as a family concern for more than fifty-five years, tucked into the La Concordia neighborhood of San Sebastián de Mariquita, in Colombia's Tolima department. The property has grown up around a simple formula: gardens, a swimming pool, and the unhurried pace of a countryside estate rather than a city hotel. Generations of Colombian families have made it a fixture of their own travel calendars, and that continuity is rare enough, in a region full of newer and glossier openings, to be worth noting on its own.

Why It Works

We chose Las Acacias because it does one thing consistently rather than many things adequately. It has not reinvented itself as a boutique concept or chased a resort-style amenities list; it has simply kept its gardens tended, its pool clean, and its welcome open to dogs as well as children, which is harder to sustain over five decades than it sounds. For travellers who want a dependable, low-key base rather than a curated experience with a price tag to match, that consistency is the whole appeal.

Why This Location

Mariquita's quiet streets carry more history than its current profile suggests. In the eighteenth century, the town served as the base of Spain's Royal Botanical Expedition, led by the naturalist José Celestino Mutis, who catalogued much of the region's flora from here before the project's work moved on. That legacy still shapes the town's identity, from its botanical garden to its old colonial core, and it gives visitors a reason to linger beyond the hotel grounds. Mariquita also sits a short drive from Honda, the old river port on the Magdalena once central to Colombian trade, making it a workable base for a day or two of exploring without committing to a bigger, busier destination.

Fast Facts

• Chambres: 7 rooms, from simple doubles to family rooms sleeping four to eight

• Vibe: countryside family resort, unhurried and garden-centred

• Best For: families, pet owners, and travellers curious about Mariquita's botanical history

• Our Favorite Thing About the Hotel: the hot tub set into the garden, away from the pool crowd

• Amenities: swimming pool, hot tub, gardens, Wi-Fi, cable television

• Attractions nearby: Mariquita's colonial centre and botanical garden, the river town of Honda

Rooms Built for Families, Not Just Couples

The room list runs from a Sencilla, a straightforward single or double, up to a Habitación familiar built for four to eight guests, making this one of the few properties in the area genuinely set up for a multi-generational trip rather than a couple with an extra cot. Every room comes with Wi-Fi and cable television with more than seventy channels, modest but useful additions for a stay built around the outdoors rather than the screen.

A Garden and a Pool, Not a Programme

There is no activities board here, and that is deliberate. Las Acacias' value sits in its grounds: a swimming pool for the middle of the day, a hot tub for the evening, and gardens substantial enough that children and dogs can wander without supervision anxiety setting in. Travellers hoping for an animated resort with scheduled entertainment should look elsewhere; those wanting a calm, green base to return to after a day exploring Mariquita or Honda will find exactly what they came for.

Before You Book

Dogs are welcome throughout the property, not confined to a handful of designated rooms, which is worth confirming directly if travelling with a larger or multiple pets. Families should ask specifically about the Habitación familiar configurations, since capacity and bedding vary by room. Mariquita's low profile as a destination means this is not a hotel for travellers chasing nightlife or variety in dining, but for a quiet, history-adjacent stopover with room to spread out, it has earned its fifty-five years.