FOUR SEASONS CARTAGENA

hospitality

Mar 4

Written By Lauren Engel

HOTEL

FOUR SEASONS

Cartagena

For WATG, we photographed and filmed Umari Spa at Four Seasons Hotel & Residences Cartagena, a project where the story was as much about the building’s history as the new interiors within it.

SERVICES PROVIDED

Client: WATG

Set across former cloisters and an adjacent heritage structure, the spa is part of the hotel’s broader adaptive-reuse transformation of several historic Cartagena buildings. Wimberly Interiors retained and restored key architectural elements, including stone columns, archways, timber ceiling beams, balustrades, and hand-finished plaster walls, then introduced contemporary interventions that give the spa a distinct identity.

Our approach was to show the full relationship between those layers. We photographed the larger architectural moments, from the original columns framing the circulation route to the generous gallery and sculptural spiral staircase, while also focusing on the details that make the interiors feel grounded in Cartagena: patterned tile, carved millwork, dark wood, handmade objects, woven textures, and the warm play of light across the historic surfaces.

The shoot also included video, with WATG architect Monica speaking on camera about the thinking behind the project. Her perspective helped connect the imagery back to the design intent: a wellness experience rooted in the city’s Spanish Colonial architecture, Colombian botanicals, and local healing traditions without turning the existing building into a backdrop.

For us, the challenge with a project like this is restraint. Historic spaces already carry texture, age, and atmosphere. The images needed to feel editorial and considered, but still let the architecture, materiality, and sense of place lead.

Umari Spa is a strong example of what hospitality design can do when preservation is treated as an active part of the guest experience rather than a limitation. It is contemporary, but it belongs unmistakably to Cartagena.