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Both. The popularity of Medellin for remote workers and tourism is noticeable -- you see foreigners almost everywhere -- and there is growing resentment for the increased costs for housing (rental market up 20% since 2023) and food. Prices are noticeably higher this year. When people get hit in the pocketbook, that hurts.

This post may help with Medellin options. Cheers

Something happening in Medellín is a growing resistance to foreigners. I found it increasingly difficult this year to get a proper manicure/pedicure in the city as many spas will tell you they don't offer their serivces to men (not true but what are you going to say/do?) I found a new barbershop that I am happy to share -- Desert Eagle Barba VIP in the Mall Gran Via (Transversal 75B #5-106 - barrio Belén) that offers a complete set of services to men in a funky and friendly environment. They offer bar service and a pool table while you wait your turn with one of eight barbers. Services include haircut, shave + beard services, facial exfoliation, manicures, pedicures, and waxing (ears, nose, eyebrows). Prices slightly higher than other barbershops but happy to pay to get everything done in one stop. WhatsApp +57 302 3427971

Done.

For those that asked, here you go. Sauna Cruising Fusion Carrera 45D #57 – 44 (barrio El Centro) Despite comments posted here, this remains the most popular sauna in Medellín in 2024. You will generally find a lineup to get in after 6pm here most weeknights since this place has the afterwork crowd on lock. This facility was opened only 3 years ago, so it is in very good condition and kept very clean. There is a large Roman-bath soaker, steam room, sauna and a pool. A billard room and two bars. There is also outdoor space with loungers if you like to get in some au natural sunbathing. This area gets particularly busy after dark. There is a dark room-labyrinth, a theatre showing porn, several public cabins with glory holes, plus private cabins with tvs (porn). This sauna does not offer massage service. The crowd here comes to play and there are breakout group sessions are common around the space. A good mix of professionals, working class and students, this is probably the best looking/fittest crowd consistently in the city. The parking lot is full of motos by 5pm. Surprisingly quiet on Sundays when other nearby saunas host events – have never seen a promotion event at Sauna Cruising. This is definitely the horniest scene in Medellín currently. X @Cruising_fusion WhatsApp +57 313 2047877 Saint Moritz Sauna Calle 56 # 45 – 72 (barrio El Centro) Has been discussed pretty extensively in this post, this is the newest addition (2023) to the Medellín scene. The facility is basic but clean. Sauna, jacuzzi, very large steam room, darkroom, and small outdoor space. They do offer massage, however I have never seen more than two attendants on site. This space has had a hard time finding its crowd in neighbourhood where you can find eight saunas within a 10 minute walk. Best day is Sunday when they run promotions (strippers and live sex shows) or duing holidays/special events. Valentine’s Day (Feb 14) was packed this year. Website https://saintmoritzsaunas.com/galeria/medellin/ WhatsApp +57 313 8810055 Instagram @saintmoritzmed El Castillo Carrera 45D #57-85 (barrio El Centro) If you are a fan of pollos (young men) you are going to love this place. Just up the street from Crusing Fusion, this is the favourite sauna/cruising bar with the younger crowd. If you are not also pollo, I can not guarantee they are going to be interested in you. This location is in a residential zone, with a discrete entrance off the street. The space is large with a dark room/labyrinth, sauna and steam room, video room and lots of hallways to explore. Busiest day is Saturday when they host Rumba Total – a weekly event with entertainment (strippers) and open bar. There is no massage service here. WhatsApp +57 315 5156550 Instagram @elcastillosauna ß not active Club 55 Calle 55 #45 – 44 (barrio El Centro) Probably the most dependable sauna in Medellin for packing in the crowds, this place gets busiest on the weekends (Sat - Sun) and fairly busy after work (4:30 - 6:30pm). Taking over where Club de Tobi (RIP) left off, Club 55 features massage service with two massage rooms on the second floor. However of late the service seems intermittent so take you chances if this is your motivation. The attendents can be found by the pool/bar area when not busy. The club has two floors, with a sauna, jacuzzi, pool and bar on the main floor. The second floor hosts a labyrinth (glory holes and private rooms) and steam room which get very busy. There is a small gym on the second floor. The crowd is a mix of younger and older that tends to taper off by 7:30pm so get there early. Telephone +57 2313100 La Casona Spa Carrera 47 #57A – 32 (2do piso) (barrio La Candelaria) This Video bar was fully renovated in 2022 and is advertising heavily. The space is small, but includes a bar and show room, turco, jacuzzi, outdoor space and darkroom with a sling. There are private cabins available to get busy with new acquaintances. The crowd is older (think 40 plus) but looking to get down to business in a sex positive environment. WhatsApp +57 304 5514626 X @solohombresvid Sauna Atlanta Gay Calle 51 #40 – 125 (2do piso) (barrio Centro) If you want to experience a throwback gay sex club in Medellin, you found your spot. This is a bare bones location to meet other men and have sex. Think over 40’s crowd that is looking to get busy. It is located right downtown (Avenida La Playa) so busiest during the week – late afternoons and after 6pm. There is a rooftop deck, dark room, video room and a sex room with benches and a sling. The space smells of stale poppers and cum. If you like your sex clubs raunchy and sweaty you may fall in love with this place. Telephone +57 44895054

In Cartagena, you have to remember that this is really three cities -- the old Walled city and next-door Getsemani, the Hotels along the water in Bocagrande and the suburban outpost of El Castillo, and the main city of Cartagena proper (including the Manga neighbourhood). You want to spend time in the Walled City, walk around and soak in the ambience. Grab a drink at Cafe del Mar and watch the sun set. Visit Gabriel Garcia Marquez's former home. Have lunch by the pool at the Santa Clara hotel (a former monastery). Explore the graffiti covered streets of Getsemani and walk under the hanging umbrellas that protect you from the sun. As others have pointed out, the beaches along Bocagrande are not great. The best beach is in El Castillo next to the Hilton hotel. It is a public beach so feel free to set up there. Otherwise, you can grab a day charter from Muelle de la Bodegita where dozens of companies will sell you packages for day trips to Cholón (over priced but popular), Playa Blanca and Barú. There are tons of shops, restaurants and smaller bars in Bocagrande-El Castillo, which becomes very lively in the evening. You are definitely going to want to go out at least once. There are dozens of rooftop bars/clubs in the walled city. The best known are Alquímico, Tsunami, and Ajeno. The scene at Donde Fidel (on the street across from the Hard Rock) is fun and you will get different entertainment looking for tips. As far as Baranquilla goes, it is not well developed for tourism. It actually came into existence because of its location on the Magdelana river so it has extensive history and interesting culture. Unless you are very comfortable with the language and know some locals, there is little to see and do outside of Carnaval each year. The suggestions to explore Tayrona and Santa Marta are good ones since both are relatively close. You may also want to just spend more time exploring the many sites around Cartagena such as El Tutumo (mud volcano -- fun half day outing), see the flamingos at the Avario nacional de Barú, swim with photoplankton at night in Barú, learn about AfroColombian culture with a day trip to San Basilio del Palenque, or tour the mangroves outside Cartagena. There are many other options to see - do so I encourage you to keep exploring the many possibilities for your trip here. Enjoy your time in Colombia.

All of this information is correct. Hotels here are supposed to remove the IVA tax at time of booking/check-in upon presentation of your foreign passport - they must enter that into their system which should remove the IVA. But it doesn't always work, and certainly with services like Booking.com you are almost certainly stuck paying. Do check your hotel bill closely to be certain it has not been charged (19%). The IVA reclaim process is designed to be tedious and you can only do so at the airport DIAN office. You also must have the original sales receipts plus the small credit card transaction receipts which includes the required IVA registration number. Sorting through it all (if you have been living here several months) is a big time investment on a travel day. This recently updated article from Medellin Guru blog covers the claim process really well. https://medellinguru.com/iva-tax/

Bar Chiquita in El Poblado (Cra. 37 #8a-88) features a couple of strippers on weekends (Fri-Sat) in the upstairs Red Room (El Rojo) Entrance is an additional 10.000COP, less crowded than downstairs dance floor and terrace, there are two shows: one at midnight and second one at 1am. Two different performers. Performance was interactive with at least two patrons testing their deep throat skills. Shows were about 20 minutes on the small stage.

Seems weekend finca (estate) parties are all the rage in 2024 in Medalló. The Sillón Rojo Club is advertising their weekend event on March 16-17 pretty heavily -- there are limited overnight rooms but they have day passes if you want to spend a day around the pool or bar while making new friends. Barbosa is a 45 minute drive north of Medellín, an easy cab ride for $20USD.

Update - February 2024 Ferchos seems to be operating regularly from the Roma Hotel here in Medellín, a long-standing gay motel just north of Centro region. Fercho posts on WhatsApp the days and hours when he operates along with pictures of the boys confirmed for the day. You will need to pay for the room reservation (day rate is 45 - 65K COP) plus the service of the boy. But under this arrangement you can relive the bad old days of hanging out and chatting with the boys before making your decisions. Ferchos Amistad WhatsApp +57 (312) 2717925

I know of a private spa in Laureles where he works from home. Does the whole works -- massage/scrub/mani/pedi/facial. But if you are looking for a proper business, you should check out Abybos Spa near Parque Lleras. Pretty certain management is gay or at least they spend heavily advertising locally in gay media. Abybos Spa - Cra 43D # 10 - 46, El Poblado, Medellín Tel. +57 302 2408953 https://maps.app.goo.gl/E8puBf9qpzLYm4cV8 Good luck with your search.

There is a cluster of high-end (and Michelin starred) restaurants along Calle 64 and Calle 63 north of Cra 7 and the tiny streets (and alleys) that connect them. Guessing the proximity to the Financial District and the Four Seasons 4 blocks away makes for a good clientele. There are some amazing options to explore there -- as a group of four with the 4 courses and two bottles of Italian wine the bill came to $175 USD.

I have never had an issue with a yellow cab in Bogotá, but I have heard stories about other's experiences. Since this will be your first trip, I would suggest you rely on Uber -- they are reliable and cheap in the capitol and you have the added security of their tracking system. The taxis at the airport are also dependable and cheap, a trip to central Bogotá during the day should be around 40.000COP, even cheaper early in the day.

The neighbourhood around Teatrón is very safe even late. If you need a taxi, best bet is to walk the 3 short blocks to Carrera 7 (beside the petrol station) which is the main North-South corridor for the city. You should easily be able to catch a cab within a few minutes to your hotel. There are several clubs that stay open past the 2am closing time (like Theatrón) in the area, so there are always crowds moving around that neighbourhood on weekends, even late at night.

Posted here +57 312 2717925 I am not aware of any active Instagram account.

Fercho's is still hosting monthly finca parties. He posts the events on his WhatsApp. Tickets are 100.000COP and any activities with the boys are additional cost. The last event (Jan 18) was in Barbosa, about 45 minutes north of Medellín. El Sillón Rojo has also advertised finca events, but I suspect those are more of an open orgy-sex event and not with scorts, although they do feature different hosts daily who are there to get the sex started. There are also several active sex clubs and sex events around Medellín. The Angel's Naked Party is hosting a big event in February in Centro. So plenty of options.

Won't go into the history, but Colombia (like Brazil) is reacting to new biometric requirements for tourist visas for Colombians, which are very expensive. This was resolved in 2020, but when Canada changed the tourist visa requirements again, Colombia re-introduced the visa fee.

Fixing my typo - the fee is COP 256.000, current rates put that at $85 CAD

Quick note -- $150 USD is very high, but there are many scorts on Rentmen in Colombia advertising that rate. FWIW. Colombia is no exception to the problem of high inflation. Am seeing the cost of all basic needs (food, shelter, clothing) have risen in the few months since I was last here. So am not surprised that many of the "pros" are now asking 150-200K for a session. Yes there is wide variation of prices for scort services here, but I am in the "you get what you pay for camp". Will add that you need to always agree to a final price -- that should be the starting point of any engagement here to avoid problems.

January 2024 - Ferchos Masajes (Amistad) is in service at the same contact number and terms described above.

@Jon121265 I compared two ads between the original Spanish and your translated version (above). It seems your translation service is converting the word "vergon" (big dick) to "shame", albeit inconsistently. A better translation would be "hung" or "well hung". I would suggest that what you are looking for is probably a lot of shame 😁 The translation of "morbo" should be "passionate" -- a scan of these ads online currently are not featuring "kink" as a service from a quick review. Happy hunting.

@Jon121265 Both words are commonly used in Colombia, but it would be useful to see context. "Morbo" can mean kink in the context, but is more commonly used to mean passionate. It is seen in scort ads to express that the scort isn't just going to sit there while you do all the work -- mucho morbo/moboso is usually in the description. "Shameful" is trickier -- the use of "verguënza" is common, must usually to say "shame on you" (que verguënza contigo) which is much more lighthearted in Colombians spanish. I have see it used to say "nothing shameful" (nada de verguënza) in the a sense that there is no pressure on your performance. But it occurred to me that this may be a mis-translation of the word vergonazo which comes from the word verga (penis) and a vergonazo is description for a man with a large verga which is what most members here actually want. Again, context helps, if you want to drop an example link here I can take a look.

@TomSmithTop Brush up on your dance moves and learn the difference between salsa caleña and other forms. They take it very seriously. There are free salsa classes in Parque del perro nightly during the festival starting around 6pm-ish (hora colombiana) the crowd will build during the evening. Its a very social atmosphere and you will get to meet locals and tourists. The gay spots are almost all in barrio Grenada. Things start late in Cali with most clubs filling up after midnight. The party spills out into the street, so just walking around the barrio will give you plenty of eye candy and cruising -- which seems to be a favourite pastime in Cali. If you are really adventurous and love the club scene, the party moves to discotecas in barrio Manga or Carrera 66 after 2am when the Granada bars close. As mentioned above, the saunas in centro will be busy as next week is largely a holiday for most working Colombians. Sauna Phisicus, Metropolis and Club Cali will be very busy -- go early to avoid a line up.

@jamieb202 This information was up to date as of January 2023. I am not aware of any changes, won't be back in Medellín until the new year. I can update then.

¡Así es! I finally booked my return and am looking forward to catching up with friends in person soon. Same thing -- am adding neighbourhoods in Bello (north) and Belén (Los Bernal) to my options for next place.