Sipping cocktails in an open air garden after your evening yoga in the jungle is just one of the amazing afternoons you can have at the Selina Medellin. This location is full of wonderful experiences that live up to the Selina name and brand.
After staying more than two weeks at the Selina Medellin, I can say this location was designed for digital nomads and social travelers to seize the day. It’s also my favorite Selina location for wellness activities.
Guests will immediately catch vibrant art shining from this eight story building located in the El Poblado neighborhood of Medellin. The building offers two restaurants, two wellness areas, and an enormous coworking space that overlooks the jungle.
Note: I keep it real- no stock or staged images here! All pics are from my actual stay at Selina Medellin.
Pros:
- Excellent Social + Wellness Calendars
- Wondrous Coworking Space
- Onsite DIY Laundry
- Comfy Beds
- Two On-Site Restaurants
Cons:
- Building Layout Feels Like a College Dorm
- Limited Off-Site Social Activities
- Bare Bones Micro Rooms
- No Change Onsite for Laundry Machines
- Elevators Breakdown From Regular Use
Location of the Selina Medellin
El Poblado is Medellin’s upscale and trendy neighborhood which attracts expats, locals and tourists alike due to its great food, energetic nightlife, and fun shopping.
My personal favorite is the amazing roof top views of the surrounding city and mountains. Just stunning. Arguably the best view in the city is from Envy- about a 3 minute walk from Selina.
If you love rooftop views and trendy food at great prices, you will love Medellin.
Everything about El Poblado is in walking distance from the Selina Medellin. The hotel is on the main road where every side street is an entrance to bars and restaurants and amazing rooftops. About a 10 minute walk is Parque de El Poblado where many tour buses depart from like those heading to Guatape.
The Poblado metro station is about a 20 minute walk down the same street the Selina is on.
Safety in Medellin, Colombia
For guests concerned about safety in Medellin, the El Poblado neighborhood is one of the safest in Medellin.
That being said, safety of personal items outside the building requires extra care. I recommend avoiding having your cell phone out while walking down the street or carrying valuables on you. With a little extra care and mindfulness, you can safely enjoy Medellin.
To ensure guest safety, the Selina Medellin has onsite security 24/7 and has multiple guards at times. Inside the Selina, all guests can feel they are in a safe place for you and your belongings.
HOWM Cafe at Selina Medellin
When you enter the Selina Medellin you’ll get an instant sense for the variety of work and wellness adventures you’ll have here.
On the right guests will find the HOWM cafe- The morning hotspot for lattes and breakfast bites.
HOWM is an indoor outdoor cafe and one of two restaurants that serve breakfast in this Selina.
Indoor seating area opens to the main lobby with trendy lighting and chill music. Outside seating is surround by lush green palms and an awning for shade.
Insider Info: Breakfast offerings include fruit bowl, acai bowls, eggs, and sandwiches around $5 USD and smoothies and lattes for $3-4. Vegan options including almond milk is available.
Guests looking for a chill environment to check their emails can be found sitting at the cafe tables midday.
Selina Medellin Reception
As you walk under the large chandelier in front of HOW cafe you’ll have a variety of clothing and souvenir options along your way, as well as the grab and go area available 24/7 for easy convenience.
At the reception desk guests can check out the selection of wellness add ons like massages and reiki session available, as well as the large selection of tours and events.
When you check in, be sure to scan the QR code for the Selina Medellin What’s App group. Each day a menu of the day will be posted, as well as the ongoing social activities.
The Garden Bar + Restaurant
And where do most of those exciting and fun events happen? At the main bar and restaurant called the Garden.
The garden is a large open air space at the base of the Selina tower.
In the center of the space is the large bar and it’s surrounded by a variety fo seating, tables, and amazing plants.
The ceiling is a clear, retractable roof that is open on gorgeous days and closed on rainy ones The fresh air really takes the ambiance of this spectacular are up another level.
This space is open all day from breakfast, to happy hour and beyond.
In the morning, guests with included breakfast can order their Deysauno Selina (Selina breakfast) of eggs topped with cheese, tomato and avocado, toast, fruit.
If breakfast is not included in your room, you can still enjoy a wonderful morning in the Garden by ordering your own Selina Breakfast or from the breakfast menu with unique offerings like beet toasts.
Insider Info:
For lunch and dinner, the Garden offers artisan hotdogs, wraps, and burgers with of course- great cocktails! Food prices are around $6-8 USD for lunch and dinner, except the meal of the day- the one posted in the What’s App group.
The meal of the day is often a 2-3 course meal with an appetizer, entree and either a drink, dessert to third offering for just $18-22,000 pesos (around $4-6 USD). It does sell out, so be sure to get there early!
The Garden is the main social hub where all the evening social activities happen like live salsa band and karaoke night.
Social Events at Selina Medellin
Social Events
The variety of social events at the Selina Medellin is large- from weekly Salsa classes with a live band, to cultural cooking nights in the kitchen and movie nights in the cinema, there is plenty to keep guest engaged.
At least once, if not twice a week. there will be live music or a DJ in The Garden.
Most weeknights have 2 social events with one or none on the weekends as workers explore the city and day tours.
To encourage participation in social events, the Garden bar will often offer discounts and even free drinks- so a fun group is almost always guaranteed.
All social events are free to guests and many are open to the public. Salsa night and live music nights attract the most locals.
Digital Nomad + Business Events
The Selina Medellin caters to the digital nomad well with their business mindshare workshops and skill share events.
Business events are often held in the Cinema room next to the shared kitchen. and happen less frequently than social events. Often 1-2 a month .
Wellness Activities At Selina Medellin
When guests aren’t dancing and socializing, they can take in a number of wellness activities on the open air yoga deck.
The yoga space is a covered outdoor area overlooking a jungle and stream below. I cannot tell you how hypnotizing it is to complete a great yoga session in fresh Colombian nature!
Wellness is a focal point at the Selina Medellin. Most days offered 2-3 yoga sessions as well as a meditation session- including weekends.
Wellness activities are free for colive guests and those with a cowork pass for that day. For other guests, select wellness activities may be offered at no charge, and those that are are around $20,000 pesos ($5 USD).
Insider Info:
If guests are looking for a quiet escape, head up to the meditation room. The meditation room is hidden on this property if guests don’t know where to look for it.
The meditation room is a second wellness area overlooking the coworking space. This a serene, soothing space is equipped with pillows and body length cushions to ease away your stress.
There is no charge for meditation room access, though guests without coworking pass may need to request access to the room as the entrance is in the password protected Cowork space.
If 2-3 yoga and meditation sessions a day isn’t enough wellness for you (it’s not for me!) all guests can reserve private wellness sessions like chakra healing, reiki, and other wellness one-on-ones at the reception desk at incredible rates.
I did a series of 4 reiki sessions with Karem, not only were they life changing, they were only $20 USD each!
Selina Medellin Coworking Space
Wellness is good and all, but sometimes a guest just has to get some sh*t done!
For those Selina guests looking to accomplish some serious work, the Selina Medellin has the largest coworking space I have ever seen!
Fully stocked with coffee, water and some powerful internet, this Medellin coworking space is unlike any other. Digital nomads and remote workers can choose from any of 5 different areas of seating, meeting rooms, booths, and shared spaces.
There is even an outdoor balcony overlooking the lush greenery and flowing river below exclusively for coworkers!
The cowork space here is so well equipped and large, that Remote Year uses it as one of their location offerings. Remote Year users have designated work spaces they can choose from as well as assigned lockers.
Access to the coworking space is included in all colive guests rate. For all other users, cowork access is an additional charge available on a daily, weekly, or monthly rate.
Shared + Community Kitchen
The shared kitchen had a major facelift before my arrival with new pots and pans, dishes, and an industrial refrigerator- guests were loving it!
The kitchen is stocked with two separate stove tops enabling more guests to cook simultaneously.
The kitchen here is fully stocked with funnels, cutlery and even a blender. Space for storing your pantry goods is available in the little hallway behind the sinks.
Food prices are comparatively low in Medellin, especially for the quality, so many guests ate out each evening. The kitchen was not that busy.
The dining space around the kitchen has three sets of community seating tables. Once in the kitchen area, the other in the library dining space next to it.
This is where the book exchange area is for those looking to swap for a new read.
Onsite Laundry
Onsite do it yourself laundry is available at the Selina Medellin! Located on the 6th floor is a set of 4 washers and dryers for guests to use.
There is no coin machine on site and neither reception nor the restaurants are prepared to make change for guests. Guests are better off making change when out around town.
The price is 11,000 CP per wash and 11,000 CP per dry.
Insider Info:
The laundry machines only take bills, no coins, and they do not give change. It is nearly impossible to find a 1,000 peso bill in Colombia to make exactly 11,000 pesos. (The 1,000 is mostly commonly in coin form).
Which means most guests end up paying 12,000 pesos instead of the 11,000 peso price. That’s 12,000 pesos to wash and 12,000 to dry- a total of 24,000 (around $6 USD per load).
While guests are getting change around town, they will want to pick up laundry detergent and fabric softener as neither is offered on sight either.
If guests are have the luxury of waiting a day for their laundry, there are two laundry places down the street for less.
Guest Rooms at Selina Medellin
The best feature of having an eight story building in the middle of Medellin is the incredible views from the higher floors. Guests in larger rooms, and those on the top floors can take in the stunning view of the Medellin hills and city.
Guest Room Overview
I stayed in a micro room at this location and it was the most comfortable bed I’ve had at a Selina. The quality of the mattress and bedding were delightful.
In contrast, the micro room itself was small and uncomfortably minimal in decor and space. A perfect place for some deep sleep, but the micro rooms at the Selina Medellin lack color, comfort and square footage.
The standard rooms have the same comfy bed as the micros as well as a much larger space. Most of the standards are also on quieter floors away from the micros and dorm rooms.
The real gem at the Selina Medellin are the deluxe rooms. The deluxe rooms have a large amount of space, natural light from the incredible city views, and more comforts of home.
Each deluxe room has a seating area of a couch or bench with a coffee table where guests can enjoy the quiet comforts of their space as well as a desk area for getting work done and journaling.
Deluxe room guests can expect the quietest spaces in the building, and those finer details that can add to their stay like faster access to shared areas, coworking, and fewer crowds.
Floors 2 + 3
Floors 2-3 of the Selina Medellin have addition resources for guest, the second floor is a parking level, and the third floor has a dance school for those looking for private dance lessons.
Guest Rooms on Floors 4 + 5
So the rooms start of floors 4 and 5. Floors 4 and 5 are suites, deluxe rooms, and standard rooms that all have their one private bathrooms. There is a two bedroom unit available as well that has it own private kitchenette.
These floors are calm and quiet with colorful art. They are also the easiest to get to via the stairs and elevators.
Guest Rooms on Floor 6
The 6th floor is the busiest floor in the Selina Medellin consisting of 12 dorm rooms and 13 micro rooms.
This is the only floor with micro rooms so if you reserve a semi-private space, floor 6 will be where your room is located. Some of the dorms on this floor have their own bathrooms, others share with the micros.
The large shared bathroom on this floor consists of 5 showers and 4 bathroom stalls. While it may sound like a busy floor, I never had to wait for a restroom or shower.
Guest Rooms on Floors 7 + 8
There are additional dorm rooms located on the 7th floor. The shared restroom on 7 was under construction during my stay, and had a similar set up to the one on the 6th floor. This floor was relatively unoccupied due to renovations.
The rest of the 7th floors and all of the 8th floor are deluxe rooms with private baths. While the wait up the elevator ride is the longest for these guests, they are rewarded with the most amazing views from the building.
Review of the Selina Medellin
My initial impression of the Selina Medellin was that of an older college dorm room based on the building and trendy art.
However, it did not take me long to appreciate how perfect this location is for digital nomads, remote workers, and those guests looking to balance wellness, work resources, social interaction with adventure.
The Selina Medellin may be the best Selina location for digital nomads and those looking for extended stays due to its perfect balance of work, wellness, and social variety and accessibility. If you want to get out of the building, there are more tours and activities at this location than most Selinas.
I HIGHLY recommend a Colombian soccer game. You don’t even have to be a soccer fan to enjoy the experience and ambiance.
No matter what mood a guest is in at a given moment, there will be something at the Selina Medellin to satisfy it.
Want to work outside under the jungle trees and birds- it is available in Cowork! In the mood for some excellent yoga? There’s a class moments away next to the water. Eager to shake off the day with a nice drink and social interaction- ask and you shall receive in the Garden Bar area!
Is there a downside to Medellin? Yes, Medellin is in Colombia and well, Colombia is not always the safest for personal belongings outside the hotel space.
That is true in El Poblado, but if guests are looking to explore Medellin this really is a great location and the Selina Medellin does all it can to make this a memorable experience for all guests.
There is plenty more to know and explore for Medellin, including what to do and a deep dive tour of the Selina Medellin Coworking space. You can check that out below.
This has been Acacia for Adventure on the Side. Hope to see you out in the world real soon! Have a great day.
