Hotel Las Nieves

Giron was perfect for our breaking up the bus from Santa Marta on the coast to Santander/San Gil/Barichara region. We were hesitant to find some cheap and quiet place in Bucaramanga and Giron is indeed extremely convenient and close to the bus terminal. The taxi was 8,000-9,000 COP and I'm sure you'd pay about the same to go to a place in Bucaramanga. Giron has the colonial flavor at a level of authenticity almost beyond Barichara and Villa de Leyva because there are so few / no tourists. We were the only gringos in town during the height of Semana Santa and got to witness all the processions every night, whether watching from the balcony of our room, or stepping outside the hotel doors and being in the heart of it all. It was extremely memorable and a wonerful time. Las Nieves is a very spacious place, colonial architectured building, basic but nice enough rooms, price is right. Breakfasts are fine (separate), but you might check out the bakeries too.

Though I'm sure other rooms were better ours had a particularly awful smell. Beds were hard (of course), no hot water. Giron is pleasant enough but if I were passing through the area again I'd probably stay in Bucaramange and opt for a better hotel.

The old Spanish Colonial town of Giron has been absorbed into the metropolitan area of Bucharamanga, but is still very much its own town. Hotel Las Nieves is right on the main square, which is a bustling place at all hours of the day and evening. The church - actually a large Basilica Minor - is just steps away. - as are the church bells in the AM. The rooms are arranged around a 2 story courtyard. They are modest, but clean and comfortable, which is really all that matters. No problems with the bathroon either. I paid 40,000 pesos for a single room. Breakfast extra. In the courtyard there is a restaurant open for breakfast, lunch and dinner and a small dessert place which opens up to the street. The square is full of street food vendors of all kinds. One word of warning, there is no conecting bus to Giron from the bus terminal, which seems to just serve long distance buses. You would need to either get off your bus before getting to the terminal and change to a city bus, or, take a taxi to Giron for about 8,000 pesos.