I went to Medellin in Late December 2004 as a part of a 5-week trip to Colombia. I had been in Cartagena the year before and noticed that many of the best looking girls in La Dolce Vita were from Medellin - A fact that I stored away in my mind for future reference.
This trip was long enough that I was able to entertain the notion of visiting other cities in Colombia. I was convinced to go to Medellin by a chance meeting with an anonymous guy I met in Boca Grande. He was a gringo that had been living in Colombia for 5 years. He told me that Medellin was full of beautiful woman and the streets in the central part of town were lined with short-time hotels with young cute girls out in front on the street. This I had to see!
I had been in Cartagena a couple of weeks at that point and was ready for a change of scenery. So I booked a ticket to Medellin for later in the month. It was $170 on Avianca. First, I was taking a trip to Bogotá to buy Emeralds, but that is another report…
I asked around about Medellin info and most people directed me to a fellow living in Medellin by the name of Roberto. He came highly recommended as a tour guide and as a good guy. This is true on both counts. He is in business with a fellow named Richard and they have a web site and an apartment that is set up for gringos who want to come down and meet girls for marriage. I think Roberto owns http://www.colombianloveconnection.com/ and Richard owns http://www.playboy-penthouse.com/ so they have tried to make a synergistic partnership.
I sent some e-mails to Roberto but didn't hear back until just before I was to leave. So, not knowing where to stay or what to do, I decided to book a room at their apartment (70$ per night with a two night minimum!!!) and see if they could give me the low down on the Medellin scene. I even bought the airport pickup (25$) from their list of extras on their web site because I had heard the airport was far out of town and the road into Medellin was dangerous. It was not. There are lots of taxis at the airport and the trip into Medellin is long but seemed safe enough. It goes thru beautiful countryside before dropping down the steep valley wall into the city. The taxis in Medellin all work on a meter (just like Bogotá but unlike Cartagena) and the trip should be around 40,000 pesos (2500 pesos = 1 dollar) which was about 16$ rather than the 25$ I paid.
When I arrived, Hector the taxi driver hired by Richard to pick me up, was there holding a sign with my name on it. That was a nice convenience. He was very friendly and a very safe diver. I got his number (300-786-1119 cell phone) because a safe and reliable taxi driver is an asset in any city.
If you are staying at the Playboy-Penthouse I would use their driver (or call Hector) if it is your first trip because the place is difficult to find. It is in a residential neighborhood and it is a high rise building that looks like all the other neighboring high rise buildings. After you arrive they even give you a card with a map on it so that you can show the taxi drivers where to go… If you are staying at a hotel, or near Parque Lleras, just get a regular taxi at the airport and use Parque Lleras as a point of reference if they don't know the specific location you are staying. You can always change to another, local, cab if you have to once you have reached the park.
Down the Valley
Parque Lleras
Parque Lleras Paintings
Medellin on the Hillsides
Playboy-Penthouse
I arrived to a residential neighborhood and was taken to the top floor of a condo building. I was greeted by Richard's office manager and shown my room. It was a simple bedroom/bath and had a great view down the valley. A couple of quibbles were that there was no safe, the toilet seat was cracked (it pinched when you sat), the shower door had no handle (difficult to close when wet), and there were used toiletry items left behind by the previous occupant. Not a big deal normally, but for 70$ per night, you expect more. As I was getting settled in, and after giving myself a tour of the place, Richard showed up. We chatted about the mongering scene in Medellin and he mentioned their Naughty Night tour ($50). I declined because I am a bit of an independent guy and figured I could just use taxis.
The boys running the place are good guys and they take care of their clients. Some of the quibbles about the room were likely due to the fact they had recently moved into that location. I think they will tighten ship as time progresses. It is also important to remember that many services are included in your room price. Make sure to compare apples to apples. I just don't use a lot of that extra stuff. Check their web site for all the freebies and then think about the services you will use, and decide accordingly. As time goes on, the market (you guys) will determine if their pricing structure is attractive. Richard is a smart guy and will adjust if needed.
I finally met Roberto later that evening. He is a hellava guy! He is older than Richard and he clearly has a love of showing guys the scene in Medellin. If Roberto was leading a Naughty Night tour I would defiantly think about going. You could tell he was sick and tired of the games American women play and was loving life there in Medellin. He did not hesitate to give me the low down on the scene in Medellin.
After hearing Roberto's description of all the great venues in the city I was ready to party with him that night. Unfortunately he had to head back to Chicago for Christmas. I would recommend you look up Roberto when you are Medellin.
After two nights at the Playboy-Penthouse I was ready to move on. It seems more suited to the guys looking to find a wife. I also think this place is perfect for a newbie monger who also wants to meet regular girls. They have a bunch of girls lined up looking for husbands (in association with colombianloveconnection.com). And they offer translation services. They have other guys staying there who are spending their time dating regular girls. Non-working girls come by the place when they meet a guy for a date. A great combination would be to meet a girl at the Penthouse that Roberto introduced you to, take her out to dinner, then, if things don't go well, head to the strip clubs with the boys.
I recently learned that they plan to separate the marriage agency and the apartment to better serve those ladies and men who would rather avoid the mongers. They are also opening a new set of rooms on a different floor that will be more private and guys who monger won't have to parade their nightly prize thru the main living room! Also these rooms will be cheaper. They are probably worth your time to check out!
If you were thinking about staying with them, by all means, check them out. As more and more folks try them, we will all learn what level of play is best served by "hosted mongering" verses "independent mongering".
I have no connection to Roberto or Richard, either financially or personally, but I do think they are good guys and they are offering a good service to us men. If you are experienced with mongering in general but just need info for Medellin, read the report to follow or hire Roberto for a night on the town. If you are a monger that uses the guides in Cartagena like Alex, Fabiany, or Wilson then maybe the Playboy-Penthouse is right for you.
Playboy Penthouse Card Back
Other accommodations
However, the next time I go to Medellin I will stay at Torre Poblado (http://www.torrepoblado.com) which a nice serviced apartment complex next to Parque Lleras.
Parque Lleras is the focal point for the regular nightlife in Medellin and is the nicest area of the city (very safe all night). Cool clubs and restaurants surround the park and all the beautiful people congregate there. There are a couple of internet shops on Calle 9 (borders the park) right around the corner from Torre Poblado.
By the way, the people in Medellin pronounce the ll in Spanish with a G or J sound rather than a Y sound as they do in other places. So Medellin is pronounced "Me-ta-gene" and Parque Lleras is "Par-Kay Jear-as". Just to give you an idea of how this sounds, there is a café next to the park that is called "Parque Llerashic" as a play on the Movie "Jurassic Park". You can tell if a girl is from Medellin by the way she pronounces the double L.
The strip clubs and massage houses are spread throughout the city so they require a taxi no matter where you are staying. Therefore, I recommend staying near the park. It is an easy landmark to tell a taxi driver and it has a lot of places to meet regular girls. And it is safe.
After two nights at the Playboy-Penthouse (their min number of nights) I moved to the Plaza Rosa Hotel (http://www.plazarosa.com) at the other end of Park Lleras from Torre Poblado. It is right across the street from a large mall (Malls are called Centro Commercial in Spanish) and just up the hill from Parque Lleras.
The hotel was 105,000 pesos (2500 pesos = 1 USD or about $42 USD) per night (for everything). They have free internet, a Jacuzzi, sauna, and great room service. A breakfast buffet is included in that as well. Taxis go by the place all the time so it is easy to get one, and you can walk to and from Park Lleras, (although the trek up the hill can be tough if you are sleepy). I brought girls back to the hotel room from the massage houses with no problem or extra charge. The rates jump to 120K pesos after December (which is the slow season in Medellin).
The Torre Poblado serviced apartment rates were even lower at 90,000 pesos per night. Again breakfast is included as is internet, maid service, a digital safe in the room, room service, etc. They have big rooms with balconies. The rates jump to 110,000 pesos ($44 USD) after December. Still, not bad. They have a penthouse restaurant on the top floor. No problems with girls. I didn't stay here this trip, but I did tour a couple of the rooms. This is a nicer place than Suites Real 85 in Bogotá, which itself was great!
Medellin is not that hard to figure out. As more people go there and write reports, all the info an experienced monger will need will be available here. I picked up business cards from the places and I will try to scan them in and post them. That way guys can just print the card and show a taxi driver. Streets in Colombia are all numbered in addition to being named. So an address is easy to find.
Plaza Rosa Card
Torre Poblado Card
Internet Card Front
Internet Card Back
Mongering
Girls and the City
The women in Medellin are very pretty. They have light skin and either black or blond hair. They often have light colored eyes as well. Medellin was originally settled by Spanish Jews and they never took on slaves to work their farms. They area was also isolated by the fact it is in a deep valley surrounded by difficult terrain. So there was little intermingling with other races (Indian or Black). The original settlers kept to themselves and didn't want a lot of outside interaction. Therefore, Paisas, as people from Medellin are called, tend to look more European, speak with a different accent, and feel they are abit better than non-paisas. This last point is not a big deal, just sort of a strong regional pride. When you tell the Medellin girls in La Dolce Vita you are going to Medellin they all get a wistful look in their eye. Chat about Medellin when you return to Cartagena and you will easily thaw even the frostiest Medellin princess.
I found the Paisas to be very friendly people. It is a city that is larger than Cartagena, but smaller than Bogotá, so it seemed like the perfect size. The climate has a constant spring-like feel. In fact, this city (like many others around the world) is called the "city of eternal spring". Most cities in Colombia have constant climates because they are so close to the equator. The average temperature only depends on their elevation. Bogotá is high and so it is cold, and Cartagena is on the coast so it is hot. Medellin has a pleasant half-way climate. It rained off and on while I was there but the rain never lasted very long and the clouds moving up and down the valley were spectacular.
Along Avenue 33
Girl and Friend
Girl in Booth
Girl in Booth Smiling
Girl Selling Fruit
Street Vendor
Skinny Girl
Joven y Viejo
Two Girls Walking
Lotto Girl
Plaza Botero - A Good Place for Girl-Watching
Venues
There are basically three venues for finding action in Medellin.
1) Massage Casas
2) Strip Clubs
3) Street Walkers
Massage Casas
You can find all the main houses listed in the Yellow Pages. Look for the ads that say they are for men ("Exclusivo para Caballeros"). I ripped out a page from the yellow pages in my hotel room for future reference. I will post the scan.
These places tend to be more straightforward than the other venues because they have straight pricing and you know what you are going to get! However the service can be abit mechanical until the girls know you.
Basically these are houses that have a massage parlor and a dozen or so girls in white lab coats with lingerie underneath! Very sexy! Prices vary between 60,000 pesos to 110,000 pesos. That is the price for a massage and sex.
These places operate exactly like Asian Massage Parlors in San Francisco. You walk in and are greeted by a woman who is the hostess. You sit down and a parade of ladies introduces themselves and you pick one. Each girl will walk up to you and remove her white coat to show you her body (in bikini lingerie), she will turn once so you can see her backside, and then politely say "Con Permisso" before returning to the lounge. After all the ladies are shown to you, you inform the hostess which lady you prefer and away you go!
You retire to the room, have a shower, she gives you a great massage, and then you do the deed. All very nice and unsurprising. You pay on your way out.
One thing that I learned was that not all the girls allowed kissing. I had to start asking the girls if we could kiss. Most said no. If that is a deal breaker for you, you should ask up front. Also they all insisted on covered blow jobs. Not much of a problem when you've taken vitamin V but if that is important to you, be advised. Of course all sex was covered.
Many of the girls are mechanical in their work, but I found that during a second session (on a later day) things warmed up greatly and that they provided more of a GFE. It probably pays to return to the same casa more than once and probably see the same girl a few times (not necessarily in a row) to get the best experiences.
These girls will meet you outside the casa. I got the number of a few of them but since my trip was so short I only had time to meet one. She came to the Plaza Rosa hotel and we had a great session with a lot of affection. I think it pays to use the casas as a place to meet the girls but then meet them again at your apartment or hotel. One unfortunate thing is that many of the girls work 6 days a week, 8 hours a day, and so you might have a lot of dates for Sunday! Ha ha!
I went to Loutron, Abydos, Blue Room, and Energy. Loutron was the most expensive at 110K, Abydos was 60K, Blue Room was 70K, and Energy was also 60K. Loutron (the one next to Playboy-Penthouse) was just like the other houses and did not warrant the extra cost. Abydos, Blue Room, and Energy were all across the river from the Poblado district and about halfway between Poblado and the Center of the city on Avenue 33.
There is a great little restaurant next to Blue Room that had great Carne Asada. A good place to have lunch and watch the ladies arrive or have a beer while you are waiting for a buddy to finish. It was the middle of the day and I had nothing to do so I walked back down Avenue 33 to the river (a long walk) and passed Abydos and one other along the way. It is a very safe area to be in.
Photo: Blue Room Massage Girl 01
Abydos Card
Blue Room Card
Energy Card
Loutron Card
Loutron Map
Yellow Pages 1
Yellow Pages 2
Strip Clubs
I only went to San Diego, Face Dos, and La Isla on this trip but there are many others. These clubs all seem to operate on the same format (with the exception of Face Dos). You enter and are requested to buy a pitcher of beer or a bottle of booze (you can buy a ˝ bottle if you want and you can take it with you when you leave). No exceptions. At Face Dos you could buy a single beer but you were still paying a lot for it, plus there was a 5K entrance fee. At San Diego you could buy a pitcher of cola or beer for 14K and that would satisfy your obligation (no entry fee), while at La Isla you had to buy 50K worth of something to be able to sit there (also no entry fee). I went with a buddy to La Isla so it only cost us 25K each. (2500 pesos to the dollar during the trip).
Basically, one girl at a time will dance on stage for three songs. During each song she will remove more clothing so that for the last song she is nude. After she is done she will go around the room and ask for tips. It doesn't matter if you are not sitting at the rail or not, she will approach you for tips. Basically she dances like they do in American strip clubs where she will give special attention to the guys at the rail who are tipping extra.
The other girls who are not dancing are all sitting with customers or around the bar. You can pick any of the girls to take her to a private room and do the deed. Cost at San Diego was about 70k, and at La Isla about 150K. For this you get a half an hour or 40 min. The girls at San Diego were rougher looking and it had more dark skinned girls, at Face Dos the girls were better looking, and at La Isla the girls were the best looking but many of them had fake breasts which I don't like much. This an upscale club with primadona attitudes and tips demanded by the waiters. Tread carefully.
The final strip club I went to was one down in the Central area. This area is not for the faint of heart. I write more about this area below. I went to a bar/club called Grill Occidental and it consisted of chica bar (more about these later) and a strip club next door. The hottie that was dancing on stage when I walked in was young and cute. The beers were about 2K each and to take the girl upstairs was 28K (yep, $11 dollars). I got the girl when she came off stage and had her sit with me. She wanted a beer which was provided and then we went upstairs. One funny thing that many girls did at this club when they were dancing was to take a swig of a guy's beer (who was sitting at the rail) if he had one! I guess that is one way to tip! A rough place where the girls get drunk while they are stripping! Not something you see everyday! Ha Ha!
The quality of the rooms in these strip clubs sort of tracked the price. The room you get at La Isla is very nice, the one at San Diego was OK but not great, but it was clean. The rooms at the San Diego are sort of like at La Piscina in Bogotá or like the better rooms in Tijuana in the Zona Roja.
The one at Grill Occidental was something like out of a movie. First you pay at the bar, then duck under the bar next to the bartender and enter a door to a storage room full of cases of beer. You pass the cases of beer and the waiters taking a cigarette break and you climb a ladder (!!!) up to the second level above the cases of beer. You can feel the boards they used to build this "loft" flexing under your steps, and you could see thru to the beer below. Yikes! At the top of the "stairs" you have two room choices, well, really they are closets not rooms.
The one my girl choose was directly over the beer downstairs and it had one cot (smaller than a twin bed) with a very thin sheet (think of a t-shirt that should have been tossed out years ago - see thru!) on it and a gray pillow. There was no room next to the bed because the "room" was only 1 foot wider than the bed. When the girl and I passed, one of us had to walk on the bed. Ha Ha! At the end of the bed was a PVC pipe coming up from below with an on/off toggle and a drain on the floor! This is where you clean up after your deed and the water (what doesn't make it into the drain) basically falls thru the gaps in the floor to the beer room below.
Well the girl and I got out of our clothes and did the deed. She was young (told me she just turned 19 years old) and cute with blond hair and big brown eyes and she was very into it. I don't think they get many foreigners there. Ha, ha! She asked if she could come to my hotel on Sunday when she was off work. She gave me her home number but I had to leave that Sunday and so we never hooked up again.
After we were done and "washed up" we climbed down the staircase/ladder and back thru the beer room now with water all over the floor, ducked back under the bar and sat for a bit in the club before I took off. Total cost 32K ($13 USD) for two beers and a romp with a cute girl. What an experience!!!!
San Diego Card
Fase II Card
La Isla Card
Grill Occidental Card
Street Girls
There are street walkers around a couple of the strip clubs (San Diego and Face Dos) and also in the old city center. These girls tend to show up late (after 11 or 12 PM) and tend to be on the rougher side. There are beauties out there but also some skanky ladies!
You can find some very cute girls on the streets but you can also find girls who are ruined from sniffing glue and you can get in trouble with young girls there. There are also transvestites walking the main drag near Face Dos. Be careful and choose wisely.
The area around San Diego and Face Dos tends to be a safer area than the city center. However the girls are also more expensive. I found a cute girl near Club San Diego who wanted 40K, while the girls in the city center wanted only 15K.
The Taxi drivers warn gringos to only choose the girls in the San Diego/Face Dos area because in the city center the likelihood of being robbed is higher. I guess the girls work with a particular hotel and sometimes will rob you while you are doing the deed or when you try to leave.
One driver who spoke great English (and was extremely helpful - Harrison at 315-538-5742 cell) suggested that I pick whomever I liked but then we go to a better hotel than what is found in the area. I took him up on his offer and we went to a "drive-in" hotel. This place reminded me of the hotels in Bangkok where you drive into a garage and your room is attached to the garage. The true "short-time" hotel. The rich movers and shakers in the city can avoid being seen entering a love hotel with a girl. They just drive in with their tinted windows and close the garage door, when they are done they just exit without having to get out of the car in public.
Harrison dropped off me and the girl and I walked in because we didn't need the more expensive private rooms. The room charge was 40K and it was nice, clean, with an attentive staff. I guess the hotels near the Club San Diego are around 20K but the difference is worth it. Very clean and secure. I wish I had gotten the name of the hotel, but I can't remember. I would bet that any taxi driver would know about it. Harrison said that you can lessen the risk of being robbed if you take the girl to a place other than "her" hotel. These drive-in love hotels are ideal.
I also sampled the street girls in the city center where there were a ton of girls on the streets near the Museum Botero. They are behind the museum one or two streets and are either side of the main street that runs next to the Museum. Be careful here. Remember this is the area that the taxi drivers warned me about.
One nice thing about this area is that the girls are there in the afternoon/early evening. Not only is this safer, but you can actually SEE what the girl looks like. I would recommend going at this time because there are more regular people about. These girls are a mixed bag in terms of looks. You have some that are EXTREAMLY cute but others that are EXTREAMLY ugly. They want 15K ($6 USD at the time) to do the deed.
I went a couple of times and always in the late afternoon or early evening. The room fee is 7K - 10K. You walk up the stairs (the hotels were always upstairs) and you buzz the door. They unlock the door and let you in. You pay your room fee and get a condom if you needed one (I always brought my own with my own lube). You and the girl are shown to a room. Every time I flicked on the light upon entry, I caught the roaches running for cover. The rooms are simple and none too clean. Stay on top of the sheets! Ha ha!
There are hooks on the walls for your stuff but don't use them. One scam these places use is for the door to be unlocked and them to reach in and take your wallet. The rooms are not that big and the hooks tend to be next to the door. I always roll up my pants starting with the belt and finish with the cuffs, and then roll my shirt around that. Set it in a place away from the door or other potential openings. Also don't go with two girls until you know a place and the girls well. You can't keep your eye on two girls when you are otherwise occupied. Also don't go in to the "bathroom" (really just a toilet and sink separated from the rest of the room by a wall) alone or for a long time. Check your stuff when you emerge. These are old Tijuana tricks - nothing new.
When you are done, they check with the girl (to make sure everything is OK) and give you your change if you had any from your room fee. Then they unlock the door and let you out. There is potential here for being robbed since you can't get out unless they let you. I recommend not bringing anything other than your money and a photocopy of your ID when you venture down to this area. Then you can give them whatever they want and just get a taxi outta there! Pay for the taxi when you get back to the hotel (where you need to keep some money).
Harrison the English-Speaking Taxi Driver
Chica Clubs
Around the Botero Museum there are also a ton of bars with chicas sitting in them. I was a little confused as to what was going on since everyone that I spoke with said the girls were just for talking with and serving drinks. Sort of like hostesses - but for only in-bar companionship. Very strange… There are a ton of small hotels in the same area so it would make sense that the girls go out with customers, but when I asked the girls and when I asked the doormen and the bartenders, they all said the girls did not go with customers to the hotels. However, it seems likely that a deal could be struck with a willing girl.
These girls tended to be very cute. So clearly they were just bait for getting customers into these places. Maybe they were new to the whole pay for play scene. Sort of like cute door girls or waitresses in Thailand or the Philippines. Who knows? However, this is an area that needs MORE investigation by people who have more Spanish skill and more time than I. There were HUNDREDS of girls in these bars (5 - 10 girls in each bar and about 20-30 small bars in this area).
The only place that people said had girls for sex was at the Grill Occidental strip club as described above. The bar next to the strip club (same name, and part of the same businesses) had cute girls but they said they did not go with customers.
Photos: Chica Club Girl 02 03
Modified Lonely Planet Colobmia/Medellin Map
(The area I identified on the map as the "Market Area"
is called "Waco" like the city in Texas.)
General Comments about the Centro
The area around the Botero museum is FULL of chicas and bars. However this area does feel dangerous. Be careful. There are no other tourists here. Bring a friend, a wingman, if you are unsure. I would restrict your adventures to early evening jaunts until you know the area better and/or you speak Spanish well. I would also recommend that you get a taxi from the Parque Lleras area and have him wait for you outside the place you pick a girl. Just have him drive you around looking at the girls and when you find one, go up into the hotel and have him wait. It is better than trying to flag one down in the Centro after you are done. The taxi will charge you about 15K per hour to wait. Well worth it.
This area requires Spanish skills. I found that the girls were rather unsophisticated about dealing with people who don't speak Spanish. At the Massage houses I could speak simply about what I wanted and the chicas would get my meaning when I spoke Spanish incorrectly and would fill in the rest in their heads. They would also answer with simple answers if I asked simplistic questions. They understood that I was working with a new language. However, in the Centro, I had to really work at speaking correct Spanish because the girls didn't understand me when I spoke incorrectly. When I did ask simple questions, I would get long dissertations for an answer spoken rapidly and with a heavy accent. Don't get frustrated, and just try to ask simple questions and get simple answers.
Be prepared to be robbed. That means mentally as well. Bring only money and a photocopy of your ID. If something happens, don't be surprised, and don't be upset. Certainly don't freak out! Just pay (it is the cost of doing business) and stay focused on getting out of the situation. It won't happen all the time, but the potential is high. Well, if I have to explain this to you on a message board, then you should not be going alone. Be smart!
Mostly, trust your gut, but only if your gut will tell you something useful. If you are not experienced in dangerous areas (don't drink, don't attract attention, dress simply (like a local - not with shorts), walk in the street, check behind you, notice someone closing in or watching you, use taxis to minimize exposure, etc, etc), or you are sort of a "clueless" guy, then this area is not for you. At the very least, bring a more experienced friend and make sure one of you speaks Spanish! There are many other great areas of Medellin; there is no need to push your luck in the Centro. But if you have the experience, this place is like unlike any other I've been to.
Photos
I didn't bring my camera much to the massage parlors or strip clubs because I didn't think they would be allowed and I didn't want to leave my camera with the door guys. Eventually, I tried to bring it to a massage parlor at the end of my trip and it was OK, so who knows? Next trip I will take more photos.
Photos: Massage Casa Hotel Date 04 05 06 07 08 09 10 11 12 13 14 15