Aurum Spa

Aurum is inside a hotel in a colonial house on Calle de la Universidad. What sets it apart is the hammam: a humid steam room where they wash the body and scrub it with a mix of coffee, volcanic mud and tobacco.

The 60-minute hammam costs COP 800,000. The long ritual, El tiempo es oro, runs 180 minutes and combines hammam, body wrap, oil massage and facial for COP 1,200,000. For couples there's Pasión de vida: jacuzzi with sparkling wine, salt scrub and massage, 120 minutes for COP 900,000.

Serenidad y deleite (COP 1,400,000, 150 minutes) ends with a chef's lunch at the restaurant in the same house. A 60-minute deep tissue massage is COP 550,000, and the Oro puro treatment uses an oil with gold powder.

What to see

• The hammam with a coffee, volcanic mud and tobacco scrub.
• The Oro puro massage, with gold powder.
• Tesoros del mar: sea salts, seaweed wrap and facial.
• The jacuzzi used in the couples' rituals.

Getting there

• On foot inside the walled city, at Calle de la Universidad #36-44, near the San Agustín cloister of the University of Cartagena.
• By taxi to Calle de la Universidad.

Tips

• Book ahead and ask whether they take people who aren't staying there: the menu's cancellation policy mentions hotel guests.
• Cancelling with less than 24 hours' notice is charged in full.
• If you want to eat afterwards, Serenidad y deleite already includes lunch at the restaurant in the house.