The Four Seasons Hotel And Residences Shines In Cartagena, Colombia

For centuries, Cartagena, Colombia, has served as a strategic port and cultural crossroads. Today, its UNESCO-listed walled city, sandy beaches, and vibrant nightlife draw millions of tourists each year. When the Santo Domingos, a prominent family of investor/developers, discovered a cluster of underutilized landmark buildings in the historic center—a 16th-century cloister and temple, the 1920s Club Cartagena, and several theaters—they embraced the opportunity to refurbish and connect them into a luxury hotel. In charge of the site plan, architecture firm WATG had to navigate strict heritage, zoning, and code constraints to interweave the disparate structures into a single 236,800-square-foot, 131-key destination. Deteriorated sections were reconstructed and restored in keeping with original detailing, and a new tower was introduced at the rear of the property. Wimberly, an independent studio within WATG, oversaw all interiors throughout—including the spa, for which it referenced traditional elements and the city’s Spanish Colonial vernacular while introducing contemporary contrasts, such as a blackened-steel spiral staircase. The studio also developed the interior vision for spaces concepted by French designer François Catroux, a frequent collaborator of the clients who passed away prior to the property’s completion. A model of adaptive reuse, the Four Seasons Hotel and Residences Cartagena now represents the next layer in the city’s architectural palimpsest.

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Four Seasons Hotel and Residences Cartagena, Colombia by Wimberly Interiors, Hospitality Giants #7

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