\u201cIt felt like a huge responsibility,\u201d confirms Laura Acevedo, who oversaw the project as the director of concept and design for the project\u2019s developers, the Santo Domingo family. \u201cThe property is so unique, so everything in it had to be unique.\u201d The choice of Catroux\u2014who is best known for his residential properties\u2014as one of the lead designers for the property was very much intentional. \u201cWe didn\u2019t want the hotel to feel like a hotel,\u201d Acevedo continues, noting that this was also why they designed so many of the details from scratch with the help of local artisans. \u201cIt felt like an opportunity to show the world what can be done here in Colombia.\u201d<\/p>\n
It\u2019s a directive that came from the very top. \u201cFrom the beginning, this was about allowing the destination to lead, ensuring the architecture and interiors feel considered, respectful, and inseparable from Cartagena itself,\u201d Alejandro Reynal, the president and CEO of Four Seasons, tells me later. It is, he says, a \u201cperfect representation\u201d of how he sees the future of the brand: \u201centering destinations thoughtfully, partnering closely with local communities, and creating experiences that immerse guests in their surroundings.\u201d<\/p>\n The Plaza de San Pedro Claver in Cartagena\u2019s walled city, just five minutes walk from the Four Seasons.<\/p>\n <\/span>Photo: Courtesy of Four Seasons Cartagena<\/span><\/div>\n<\/figure>\n That connection to its surroundings is palpable across every space of the hotel, from the breathtakingly intricate fresco of a lush tropical scene that adorns the ceiling of the Grand Grill\u2014a classic American steakhouse that marks Carbone founders Major Food Group\u2019s first venture into South America, and serves a mean prawn cocktail\u2014to the Art Deco glass doorway surroundings and inlaid wood mirrors scattered throughout the property. \u201cEven if you don\u2019t pay attention to every little detail, I think you can feel it,\u201d says Acevedo. \u201cThere\u2019s a harmony to it all.\u201d<\/p>\n You really can feel it: in the soothing creams and black tones that ribbon their way through every space, or the airy corridors that flawlessly seam one building to the next, or the evident respect for its bones. (I was especially charmed by the stone column that peeked out of the wall in my room.) Though over the course of my three nights in Cartagena, the corner of the hotel I grew most fond of was right outside my bedroom: a wicker chair and cushioned footstool overlooking the hushed cloisters, where four colossal banyan trees sit in the center, their tendrils dappled with different shades of sunlight throughout the day. It doesn\u2019t get much lovelier than that.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n![\"Image](\"https:\/\/assets.vogue.com\/photos\/69dca8fe8922ad4bc20f6b0b\/master\/w_1600%2Cc_limit\/CTC_111.jpg\"\/)
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