{"id":2054563,"date":"2026-06-04T17:33:04","date_gmt":"2026-06-04T15:33:04","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.luxsure.fr\/2026\/06\/04\/four-seasons-cartagena-living-history-rather-than-reproducing-it\/"},"modified":"2026-06-04T17:37:21","modified_gmt":"2026-06-04T15:37:21","slug":"four-seasons-cartagena-living-history-rather-than-reproducing-it","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.luxsure.fr\/en\/2026\/06\/04\/four-seasons-cartagena-living-history-rather-than-reproducing-it\/","title":{"rendered":"Four Seasons Cartagena: living history rather than reproducing it"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

In Cartagena, certain addresses don’t just become established. They take root. The new Four Seasons Hotel and Residences Cartagena doesn’t start from virgin ground, but from a set of structures already there – walls, courtyards, volumes – whose presence it chooses to extend. <\/p>\n\n

Located in the Getseman\u00ed district, just a stone’s throw from the UNESCO-listed walled city, the project is based on a simple principle: assemble several historic buildings to produce a unique place. Among them, the former Club Cartagena, reintegrated into the scheme without being erased. <\/p>\n\n

This type of intervention implies a rarely visible constraint: working with what already exists. Ceiling heights, wall thickness, light circulation – these are all parameters set beforehand, which contemporary architecture can only interpret. <\/p>\n\n

Decorator Fran\u00e7ois Catroux acts as mediator. His approach favors reduced lines and subdued hues, letting the old volumes produce their own presence. He doesn’t redesign space: he clarifies it. <\/p>\n\n

The project is also based on a collective effort involving local architects and craftsmen. Restoration does not aim at reconstitution, but at adjustment. Old materials – stone, woodwork, plaster – are preserved where possible, then reinterpreted in a contemporary way. <\/p>\n\n

Detail<\/strong><\/p>\n\n

Location: Getseman\u00ed district, Cartagena
Program: 131 rooms and suites
Structure: assembly of historic buildings (including Club Cartagena)
Design: Fran\u00e7ois Catroux
Functions: hotel, private residences, restaurant, spa, event spaces<\/p>\n\n

The bedrooms follow this logic. Some retain original features – high ceilings, architectural details – integrated into a more streamlined composition. The Catroux suite, accessible by private elevator, is on a different scale: two bedrooms, a terrace and a fountain, in a vocabulary inspired by colonial architecture. <\/p>\n\n

The culinary offering, spread over eight locations, functions like an internal cartography. From the Grand Grill in the old club to the more informal spaces, each address occupies a specific position within the whole. The building contains not one restaurant, but several. <\/p>\n\n

The Umari spa, housed in a former cloister, introduces a different temporality. Religious architecture, originally designed for retreat, is here reallocated to care. Gestures change, but the space retains its primary function: to slow down. <\/p>\n\n

Outside, Getseman\u00ed plays an active role. A dense neighborhood criss-crossed by galleries, caf\u00e9s and continuous street life, it prevents the hotel from closing in on itself. Luxury is not isolated: it’s porous. <\/p>\n\n

The Veracruz room, capable of accommodating three hundred people, is a reminder that this type of venue must combine two scales – the intimate and the collective. Rooms, patios and terraces on the one hand; events, meetings and celebrations on the other. <\/p>\n\n

What’s taking shape here goes beyond the simple opening of an establishment. It’s a way of working on the city without transforming it head-on. Using what’s already there, shifting its uses, extending its life. <\/p>\n\n

In a context where luxury hotels often tend towards creation ex nihilo, Cartagena offers a slower alternative: that of addition rather than rupture.<\/p>\n\n

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In Cartagena, certain addresses don’t just become established. They take root. The new Four Seasons Hotel and Residences Cartagena doesn’t start from virgin ground, but from a set of structures…<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":2026618,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_lmt_disableupdate":"","_lmt_disable":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[30763],"tags":[76505,76501,76504,76502,76503],"class_list":["post-2054563","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-travel","tag-colonial-architecture","tag-four-seasons-cartagena","tag-francois-catroux","tag-getsemani","tag-hotel-colombia"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.luxsure.fr\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2054563","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.luxsure.fr\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.luxsure.fr\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.luxsure.fr\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.luxsure.fr\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=2054563"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.luxsure.fr\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2054563\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.luxsure.fr\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/2026618"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.luxsure.fr\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=2054563"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.luxsure.fr\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=2054563"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.luxsure.fr\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=2054563"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}