Casa Yahri

A truly wonderful experience in Barichara. Staff were all so accommodating and kind. Rooms were incredible and food was excellent. One of the best places we stayed in Colombia. Two nights and were upgraded to their best room (with private plunge pool). Rooms were very smart & clean. The little touches (fresh flowers, turn down service) offered were much appreciated. The hotel is at the far end of Barichara but given it is a small town that is no problem. We were able to leave our hire car right outside the hotel. We spent two nights and had breakfast only on both occasions and each meal was wonderful with a large variety of options. The chefs are able to prepare meals to your liking with a high degree of customisation. Other guests were taking the cooking class and seemed to really enjoy themselves. The suite was fantastic with air conditioning (although the room was still warm), fantastic shower, TV, Wifi and all presented very tastefully. The main pool is a great place to refresh and there is nice communal seating to enjoy the view. The one downside was that we tried to organise a bike tour with the hotel before we arrived and were quoted about $800 USD for a one day trip (which was silly) so we arranged it separately. That said, the rest of the experience is fantastic.

Our arrival at Casa Yahri after a long travel day from Isla Baru in the Caribbean revealed something truly unexpected: while we'd known the villa was intimate & accommodated few people, we didn't anticipate that our family of 4 would have the home to ourselves. As we soon learned, Casa Yahri is booking only 1 party at a time, so this was our private home during a 3-day visit to Barichara in Santander. My wife & I settled into the spacious master bedroom on the upper level (with big, wooden accordion doors & patio) while our two sons shared a large room with 2 doubles a level below. The villa's open-air layout - lush gardens, flowering plants & local artwork adding brilliant color to a large sitting area and a well-stocked kitchen leading out to a long, slender swimming pool & large, adjacent in-ground jacuzzi - is set against the backdrop of colonial Barichara just a short, forested walk from the bottom of the property. Casa Yahri's gracious host & manager Camila leads a team of house staff, cooks, groundskeepers & local "tuk-tuk" drivers (Anderson was our favorite) that meet every need. It was the perfect place to launch a morning-to-nite hiking & river rafting expedition to stunning Chica Mocha Canyon and, later, to fall into our outdoor shower, comfortable sweats and a bottle of chilled Argentine white before dinner prepared on-site by the chef of Casa Guati, a fine new restaurant in town. Yahri is also the perfect place to embark on a day of exploring the cobblestone streets, beautifully appointed homes, artisan shops & cafes of Barichara with our guide Nico, who knew all the best places (including lunch at Shanti, the private home & garden of well-known restauranter Carolina, whose fresh ceviches are flavorful & delicious). Barichara is a gem & Casa Yahri sparkles like a diamond.