Just spent six nights here based in large part on
SanDiego1K's recommendation, and while it's highly unlikely I'll come back to Bogota, I can definitely recommend this hotel. The staff really made the stay.
The rooms are as described above, but there are nicer and less nice rooms, both street-side and not. We were originally upgraded to a smoking room, which was the nicest room we saw (we ended up seeing five or six over two days) but we didn't want the odor. If you don't like what you're first shown, ask to move. The corner rooms seem bigger, or are just laid out better. All rooms are suites, of course.
Breakfast and happy hour are included, and both lovely. Lots of options at breakfast, and they change daily. Fresh fruit, cereals, yogurts, fairly uninteresting breads, a variety of hot meats, cold meat and cheese plate. Some traditional columbian items. There's an omelette station daily, staffed by a woman who is just amazing (have I mentioned the bulk of the staff here rocks?!) Sunday brunch is served later in the day and has even more options.
Hot chocolate is available daily in addition to coffee and tea, and there's a small chocolate fountain every day.
Happy hour includes one hot and one cold snack, different every day (some days better than others) and all you can drink booze or non-alcoholic drinks. If you want something other than alcohol, try the limonata. Limes, water, ice and sugar. Mmmm. Jorge runs that place on weekdays, and he's awesome.
Front desk staff needs special note here. Beatriz and Patricia have the best English, but the entire staff was very, very helpful. When Beatriz realized mr kk and I are foodies, and really wanted to try the local dishes, she gave excellent recommendations for local meals and restaurants ('no tourists') and even arranged for us to have a traditional breakfast tamale and hot chocolate delivered to the room on our last day so we wouldn't leave without tasting this traditional meal. She was awesome, and was assisted in her quest to get us the local food by John at the desk and the Juan the bellboy. Really great staff.
We didn't do much walking around in general, but I walked to a small grocery--excellent directions by Patricia--one afternoon and we walked down Calle 7 to look around. Not sure I'd walk anywhere in bogota at night, but no issues at all during our stay. There's a Juan Valdez coffee place across the street, and a restaurant that's well enough regarded, but we ate elsewhere.
We used hotel cars (rather than taxis) for our shopping, etc. It's about $10 an hour for a car and driver. Get the guy's number and if you're finished early, he'll come get you. No tip required, but we tended to give a bit on top. You can pay the driver directly and avoid the 16% VAT, or pay the hotel and get Hilton points.
Issues--mr kk left his shoes in one of our previous rooms, and they were not found (or at least, not turned in) by the housekeeping staff. That's too bad. Also, the mini bar person disregarded the 'do not disturb' when she came in to check the minibar, which is a particular peeve of mine.
Lastly, upon checkout, there's a 10,000 COP 'insurance' fee (a little over $5.50 at todays exchange rate) which I found annoying. There is heavy security EVERYWHERE in Bogota, which may be the reason for this.
A general note about Bogota--this ain't Mexico. We're seasoned travelers, and were surprised by how little English is spoken here. If you're counting on being able to communicate with people, best bring your Spanish.
