Concierge in Cartagena: Reservations, Chef and 24h Management

Updated: October 19, 2026 · by Marta Fernández, founder of CABÚ Viajes, local operator in Cartagena de Indias (RNT 215668).

Concierge, plain and simple: a local person who gets your trip whatever it needs, when it needs it. The Saturday table, the chef at the villa, the photographer, the surprise for the bride, the pharmacy at 2 a.m. At CABÚ it's not an extra: it's the layer that wraps around all our group trips.

What CABÚ concierge covers

  • Reservations and early access: tables at restaurants, beach clubs and nightclubs — any in the city, not just the ones in our guides.
  • The house, alive: private chef, staff, decoration for special occasions, groceries stocked before you arrive.
  • The unexpected: a flight that changes, someone who feels unwell, a plan that has to be reworked mid-day. That's what the 24-hour WhatsApp is for.
  • The extras that make the trip: photographer, live music at the house, salsa classes, bachelor(ette) party surprises.

How it works

No apps or tickets: a WhatsApp chat with Marta and her team, open from the moment you book until you land back home. You ask, we confirm, done. We're available 24 hours a day, every day, in Spanish or English.

Who writes this: Marta Fernández Ruiz, founder of CABÚ Viajes and local operator in Cartagena de Indias. She answers personally on WhatsApp at +1 754 201 9833.

Operator registered with Colombia's National Tourism Registry, RNT 215668.

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Activate it for your trip

Message Marta on WhatsApp at +1 754 201 9833 with how many people, what dates, how many nights and what plan, and we'll walk you through how we set it up.

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What a concierge in Cartagena actually costs

Every operator in the city offers "24/7 VIP concierge" and almost none of them says what it costs. Here is the number, with the same logic we use for everything else we publish.

The local concierge is included in the proposal, with no extra charge. That person is in the city, answers the phone at two in the morning, and fixes things in the local language with local contacts. So it adds nothing to the per-person price: the CABÚ concierge is part of every proposal.

What we do not charge is an agency fee on the rest of the trip. The house, the boat and the dinners are shown to you at their per-unit price, and that price does not change because you book them through us. That is the difference between a concierge paid for their work and one paid through a percentage buried in every reservation.

What it covers and what it does not

It covers: tables, restaurants and beach clubs booked with written confirmation; running the boat day end to end; private chef and the market shop; transfers and transport throughout the trip; one person reachable around the clock while the group is in town; and fixing what goes wrong — the delayed flight, rain on boat day, the guy who loses his passport.

It does not cover: getting into places that do not take reservations, skipping lines or rules, or anything involving paid companions — we do not work with that, and it is worth saying plainly, because in this destination people ask. We are also not a security service: at the high level, overnight security is contracted separately, at a published price.

Concierge, agency, or doing it yourself

  • Doing it yourself works if the group is small and flexible. The cost is not the money, it is the time and the risk: paying someone upfront that you cannot verify from another country.
  • A package agency gives you one closed per-person price. Convenient, but the large-group saving is kept by whoever sells it — we explain that on bachelor party packages.
  • A local concierge like CABÚ does not charge separately for the work and shows you the price of every piece. Above about 10 people it is almost always the cheapest of the three, and the most flexible.

Private villa, boat and chef: the three things a group actually books

People searching for a concierge in Cartagena almost never want a concierge in the abstract. They want three things settled: where the group sleeps, which boat goes out on the island day, and who cooks. Everything else the service does exists so those three do not fall over.

The private villa

A villa is priced per night, per house — not per person. A house in the Old City for sixteen at 600 USD a night, four nights, is 2,400 USD: 150 USD per person for the whole trip. That is the number worth comparing, and almost nobody shows it to you on its own. What inflates a quote is never the house; it is everything stacked on top of it.

The boat — and the word “yacht”

This is where most groups get a surprise, so it is worth saying plainly. In Cartagena, “yacht” almost always means speedboat. Most of what is advertised as a private yacht for a bachelor or bachelorette party is a 36- to 48-foot open speedboat: fast, open-deck, perfect for a day in the Rosario Islands or Cholón, and nothing like the three-deck motor yacht in the photo.

A full-day private charter runs 850 to 3,800 USD, priced per boat, not per person. Sixteen people on a 1,600 USD boat is 100 USD each. There is no separate dock tax when you rent the boat with us, and food and drinks on board are included.

  • 850–1,500 USD: 36 to 40 feet, up to about 12 people. The standard bachelor-party format.
  • 1,500–2,500 USD: 45 to 50 feet, more shade and deck space, comfortable for 15–20.
  • 2,500–3,800 USD: a large vessel or an actual yacht, with crew and sometimes cabins.

Rosario is 45 to 60 minutes by speedboat; Cholón about an hour. If someone offers you a “luxury yacht” for 600 USD a full day for twenty people, you are not looking at a yacht. How to rent a boat in Cartagena without getting scammed.

The private chef

A private chef in the house usually costs less than the same dinner for the group in an Old City restaurant, and it solves the real logistical problem: seating sixteen people together in Cartagena on a Saturday is hard, and seating them at the hour the group actually wants to eat is harder. It is booked per service, with the market shop billed separately, and it absorbs vegetarians and allergies without drama.

The rule that explains all of it: house, boat and chef are priced per unit. The per-person cost falls as the group grows. That is why a group of six pays far more per head than a group of sixteen booking exactly the same trip.

Who needs a concierge in Cartagena, and who does not

Not everyone does. From the people who sell it:

It pays off if:

  • You are more than ten people arriving on different flights. The value there is not luxury — it is somebody sequencing six arrivals so nobody waits an hour at the airport.
  • Nobody in the group speaks fluent Spanish. A large share of Cartagena suppliers — captains, chefs, drivers — work only in Spanish and only over WhatsApp.
  • You are coming from the US or Mexico and everyone pays their own share. Splitting payment across sixteen people at a distance is, in practice, the heaviest job of the whole trip.
  • There is one immovable date — a wedding, a birthday, a flight home — and something has to go right.

It does not pay off if:

  • You are two or three people for four nights. The host is not charged separately, so it does not weigh on the per-person price. Book a hotel and hire the boat day on its own.
  • You already know Cartagena and have contacts here. If you know which captain to call, you do not need an introduction.
  • You want exactly one thing — a boat, a house — with nothing around it. Book it directly and skip the host.

If you fall in the second group we will say so in the quote, not afterwards.

What a CABÚ proposal always includes

  • Transfers: airport pickup and drop-off, and transport to every activity.
  • Breakfast at the house every day.
  • Housekeeper with daily cleaning.
  • CABÚ concierge for the whole trip, at no extra charge.
  • Food and drinks on the boat, chosen by the group when confirming, with no separate dock tax.

Not included: dinners and nights out (we book them at no cost and you pay at the venue), club cover and bottles, and tips for the boat crew. The boat is matched to your group, taste and budget: from a fast speedboat to a yacht or a catamaran.

Concierge FAQ

Is the concierge charged separately?

No. The CABÚ concierge are included in every proposal and never appear as a separate charge. There is no agency fee on the rest of the trip.

Is someone available at night?

Yes, while the group is in Cartagena. It is the main reason the service exists: group-trip problems happen at night.

Do you work with small groups?

From 6 people. Below 10 the per-person price climbs, because the house and transport are billed per unit.

How do I know you are a real operator?

Our RNT is 215668 and it can be verified free in Colombia's national tourism registry before you pay anyone anything. The step-by-step is on how to verify an operator.

Does the concierge take a commission on the villa or the boat?

No. The house, the boat and the dinners are quoted at their per-unit price and that price does not change because you book them through us. The local concierge is included in the proposal, with no extra charge. That is the difference between paying for the work and paying a percentage hidden inside every booking.

Can each person in the group pay their own share separately?

Yes. Every member of the group can pay their share directly to CABÚ and get their own receipt. One person does not have to front the money for sixteen and then chase it on WhatsApp.

Is the concierge with us all day?

No, and they should not be. They are reachable for the whole trip and physically present at the moments that need it: the arrivals, the boat day, the big dinner, anything that goes wrong. The rest of the time the group is on its own, which is how a trip is enjoyed.

What is the difference between a concierge and a tour guide?

A guide goes with you and explains the city for a few hours. A concierge does not go with you — they organise and fix. Booking, coordinating suppliers, lining up timings and repairing whatever breaks, including at 3 a.m. They are two different services and they are hired separately.

In Cartagena, is a “yacht” really a yacht?

Almost never. Most of what is advertised as a private yacht for a bachelor or bachelorette party is a 36- to 48-foot speedboat. A full-day private charter runs 850 to 3,800 USD depending on size and type, priced per boat rather than per person. If you are offered a “luxury yacht” for 600 USD a full day for twenty people, it is not a yacht.

Can you get us into nightclubs or a table at a full restaurant?

We reserve tables and arrange entry in advance, which is what actually works. What we do not do is promise instant access to a packed venue at midnight on a Saturday: whoever promises that either does not deliver it or charges a great deal for it.

What do you do about the group’s safety?

We are not a security service and we do not hire bodyguards. What we do is remove the real risks of a group trip: transport with drivers we know, boats with their paperwork in order, venues we trust, and somebody to call at three in the morning. If you want armed personal protection, that is a different kind of company.

Do we need to speak Spanish to organise the trip?

No. We work in Spanish and English, and a large share of the city’s suppliers — captains, chefs, drivers — work only in Spanish and only over WhatsApp. That gap is one of the main reasons the service exists.

The five pages that answer the rest

All of it is open on the site, with no form in the way:

Staffed villa, private charter and net rates: the vocabulary high-end clients actually use

The same person running your days gets the request phrased in very different ways: staffed villa, house manager, private chef, private yacht charter, travel advisor with net rates. It is all the same service, billed line by line:

  • Staffed house inside the walls — from about 600 USD per night for a house sleeping 16, billed per house and not per guest. Staff is separate and each role is its own line. The full breakdown.
  • House manager / local concierge — included, no extra charge: the person who confirms the boat, holds the restaurant tables and solves what breaks.
  • Private yacht or boat charter — 850 to 3,800 USD per boat per day by size, with the captain's licence, passenger liability insurance and port clearance attached to the quote. In Cartagena "yacht" usually means a 36 to 48-foot speedboat, and we say so before you pay. The honest version.
  • Wedding weekend — we do not run the ceremony; we run the three days around it. How it works.
  • Travel advisors and agencies — net rates on request, one point of contact, white-label available. The advisor page.

What is inspected before anything reaches a quote: houses are seen, not photographed — air conditioning and water pressure in every bedroom, which bedrooms are real bedrooms, the noise at one in the morning, and who actually holds the keys when something fails on a Saturday night. Boats carry four documents: the captain's licence in his own name, passenger liability insurance, the port clearance for the day, and a maximum legal capacity your group fits inside with the crew counted. What does not pass does not go in the quote.

Planning around a long weekend? The 2027 US long weekends that work best for Cartagena, the nonstop flights including the new United routes from December 17, 2026, and what it costs: Cartagena long weekends 2027 from the US.

Write to us now, and what happens next

Message us on WhatsApp → +1 754 201 9833 · answered at any hour, 24/7. Prefer email or a form? Ask for your quote here.

Send these five things and nothing else is needed: the dates or the month, how many nights, how many people, what is non-negotiable for this group, and the city everyone is flying from.

  1. Within 24 hours on a working day you get two or three houses or boats that actually fit those dates, with what we checked on each one, and an itemised quote: each line priced separately, what is included and what is not, and the payment calendar. No agency fee.
  2. You choose. Nothing is held or booked until you confirm in writing. If nothing fits, we say so instead of pushing a substitute.
  3. Deposit against a company invoice — never 100% upfront, never to a personal account — and each traveller can pay her own share and receive her own receipt.
  4. One named contact on WhatsApp before, during and after the trip, who answers at eleven at night on the 31st. RNT 215668, verifiable in the public Colombian registry.

December and the first week of January are quoted on the actual house, in writing, because those two weeks sell out first.

Tell us what you need and get it back in 24 hours

You do not need to have it all decided. With these four things we send a real quote, not a brochure:

  1. Dates (or the month) and how many nights.
  2. How many people. Here you pay per unit: the house, the boat and the van cost the same for 8 people as for 16, so the headcount moves the per-person price a lot.
  3. What is non-negotiable for the group: an island day on a private boat, a chef at the house, a club table.
  4. Where you are flying from, and whether everyone lands the same day.

In under 24 hours you get an itemized breakdown per unit with what is included and what is not, plus the payment schedule: a deposit to hold the house and the balance before the trip, against a company invoice. No agency fee and no commitment — the quote is a draft open to changes, and nothing is reserved until you confirm.

Request your quote here · Local operator in Cartagena, RNT 215668.

See also: Private villas, yachts and VIP service in Cartagena.

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