Four Point Sheraton:Cali

Today I took a flight from Medellin to reach Cali.
I checked out of the Affinity Hotels in Medellin and took a cab from Medellin to the local Airport.
The Airport is on the mountain top some 50kms away. It took us 1 hour around a spiral path. But the view is breath taking. You can smell the fresh air and the greenery all around is amazing. The view from the top of the Medellin City also is a sight to behold.

The flight was by far the best. Avianca seems to be winning all the coupons from me so far. Every experience with Avianca (on and off the plane) is so so pleasant. The moment I was standing in the checkin counter. I was greeted with a smile by a very beautiful ground hostess. She was darn beautiful. I just couldn't believe that I was in Medellin Airport.
She pleasantly went through the formalities and gave me my boarding pass. I am certainly going to remember her smile for a long long time.

So after just about 40 minutes in air, it was a time to land. My flight had a lot of families with kids. So the moment we landed they all aplauded, like thanking the pilot for safely landing them .
At Cali, I was not so warmly greeted by a Comcel Colleague.
Maybe he was apprehensive about his English. Maybe he wasn't too confident. Maybe he was too tired from his last night planned activity which lasted until 3AM. Maybe today is Sunday and his boss made him receive me on his day-off. Maybe he is just like this.I wouldn't know.

In any case we drove in his car for about 20kms until we reached the Four Points Sheraton Hotel where my office has made my reservations. The road from the Airport to a stretch of about 15kms is like a National Highway and unbelievable straight. No curves until you exit the highway to enter the city. I mean you could have your foot down on the accelerator and drive at 120kmph without a hitch. But the moment you enter the City you are immediately reminded of MUMBAI. The roads are broken with huge pot holes. I haven't seen these in Bogota or Medellin.
So when i inquired politely to my Comcel Colleague, he told me that the Municipal Corporation here doesn't do much to fix the roads and that their earlier mayor was a blind guy and a very poor administrator.

Alas we reached the Hotel. The Reception was warm in welcoming to Hotel. Thank God they speak English. Even the housekeeping folks speak English. The mini restaurant bearer also speaks English. So that helped me get lunch (remember VEGAN, no eggs, no beef, no ham, no pork, no chicken, no fish...) I had some beans, rice and fried banana.

The Aura that I get from this hotel is negative. The entire hotel is ill lit. The moment you enter the reception area, you feel the dullness, the darkness. Its terribly cramped for space. INMHO, the entrance to a hotel should be very grand. There is absolutely no way that the natural sunlight can enter the premises. The artificial one is clearly not been done for the present.It feels that I don't want to stay here.

The room for approx USD 100 per night feels lot cramped up for space. After the bed there is just about 3 feet of place around it for a person to walk around.

There is no wifi in room. But I do have Cat5 Connectivity which after reasonably large tinkering by myself and the local bellboy seems to be working.

There is huge construction going on in 4 Points Sheraton -Cali right now. That probably makes you feel even more uncomfortable. It doesn't affect me directly though.......

The view is pathetic to say the least. I stare directly outside the Car Parking Lot.
Would you believe it !!! I certainly don't. But then I am willing to compromise. In any case from Monday onwards my day will begin at 7AM in office and will end at around 5PM.
So I wont be doing much in Hotel in any case except to having a bath and nights sleep.

The bed here also hurts. The whole place is so yester year type.
The toiletries leak, The shower doesn't have enough water pressure. The bed is so damn hard, the tapestries seem old, feel that they haven't been changed for last 10years at least.

The whole Aura in the room feels like you have entered a sick room. Wanting and pleading you to make changes to it. Add some life to it.

Maybe I am thinking too much. But I can assure you I am not coming back to this hotel ever again.

Thats it for now. These are my first impressions of the place. Maybe they will change if I experience this place longer. Maybe they might be reinstated.