Rancheria Utta

We booked a 3 days / 2 nights tour with Rancheria Utta during our holiday in Colombia with a family of friends. Although price was far above similar proposal from other operators, we were attracted by the nice location and were expecting, accordingly, a better service. While the expectation about the hotel accommodation were overall met (Rancheria Utta is probably the most comfortable place to sleep in Cabo de La Vela and the restaurant is decent, too) the organization of the tour was a kind of disaster. The first problems showed up already in the booking process: the hotel does not accept credit card (you will have to bring cash from Riohacha to pay your stay, as there are no ATM’s in Cabo de La Vela either) and there was no way to pay the 50% upfront payment required via wire transfer from Europe, being their bank account not enabled for international payments. As a matter of fact, in spite of their confirmation and of constant exchange via WhatsApp until the night before, the pick-up was not arranged as planned: the drivers came late and unaware of the program, with extremely old cars (one broke the engine while still in Riohacha and had to be replaced, and I had to personally push the other to crank-up the engine on our way back), unsafe to drive in such a desert area and definitely not comparable with the 4x4 Toyota used by most of the operators which we met along our way. Most regrettably, the management did not even try to fix the issues or at least to show their willingness to somehow settle our complaints.

I spent 4 nights at Utta in early August 2023 with my husband and 2 kids. It was an experience like no other! The room was clean and pleasant, the staff very helpful (Ana, Will, I can't remember the other names), the hammocks wonderful, and the meals were tasty and generous. As we hadn't organised a tour beforehand (possibly a mistake) Ana gave us tips on where to go, including an amazing beach an hour's walk away that we had entirely to ourselves - unless you count the pelicans diving for fish! Yes it's hot, yes it's sandy, it's not luxurious, but it has everything you need and it was so quiet and peaceful. We enjoyed our afternoons in the hammocks or playing Parques on the table by the "bar", and evenings after dinner gazing at the stars on the beach. Lovely place.

Excelente estancia, las cabañas muy cómodas, con agua y luz! Teniendo en cuenta la geografía donde esta, rica comida, buena atención y la playa privada para disfrutar del paisaje. Para los aue desean mayor comodidad escojan las cabañas, para los mas aventureros tomen el chinchorro, cerca de la playa con amanecer sin tener que moverte.

Es una maravilla llegar a este lugar luego de afrontar los retos de la carretera para llegar hasta el Cabo de la Vela. Cuenta con las comodidades necesarias para el descanso: hamacas o cabañas con baño privado, restaurante y playa tranquila. Nos gustó mucho la amabilidad del personal y la atención en el restaurante. Infaltable madrugar a ver el amanecer.

Buen servicio, amables, su ubicación es muy buena, cuentan con agua y energía. Hay cabañas con baño. Para destacar el esfuerzo por crear infraestructura turística. Me impacto encontrarme con este tipo de cabañas en un lugar tan lejano y de extrema pobreza. Esperaba menos y salí sorprendida . Se esmeran por atender bien al turista

Un excelente lugar teniendo en cuenta las condiciones y restricciones de la zona, noa habria gustado quedarnos mas tiempo. Muy bien organizado tanto la acomodación en chinchorro, como en habitación. Sugiero que mejore el sistema de atención en el restaurante, preguntando siempre la seleccion de cada huesped, no solo verificando con que conductor va cada grupo.