El Tesoro is a popular mall in Medellín with over 400 shops located in the El Poblado neighborhood of Medellín. It also offers scenic views of Medellín and the Aburrá Valley.
The mall is known as Parque Comercial El Tesoro instead of Centro Comerical El Tesoro like many other malls in Medellín that use “Centro Comercial” in the name. This is likely due to it having a park with some rides for kids.
This is a very nice mall that is convenient, as it has a Carrulla for groceries, a Cinemark for movies, a medical tower and many of the typical shops you’ll find in other malls in Colombia. In addition, it has a couple of food courts with many fast food options plus several restaurants.
Note the above photo is the view of Medellín at night from El Tesero Mall, the photo is by Jenny Bojinova.
Parque Comercial El Tesoro
History of El Tesoro Mall
In 1996, in the midst of an economic crisis, the commercial and real estate sectors joined forces to come up with a plan to build Parque Comerical El Tesoro. The mall opened on November 25, 1999 with an initial 174 stores.
Seven years later, in 2006, the mall opened a second phase that added 180 stores. And in 2011, a third phase opened that added another 80 stores, 1,200 parking spaces and an events center with capacity for 1,200 people.
At the end of 2013, a Medical Tower was added, which is a 22-story building. This medical tower has seven operating rooms, a hospitalization floor and 140 medical offices and clinics.
Note that tragedy struck this mall over 17 years ago in January 2001, when a car bomb went off in the parking garage and killed a woman and injured 56 people. The bomb was reportedly attributed to a war between criminal gangs in the city.
Inside El Tesoro Mall
The Shops in El Tesoro
The anchor tenants of the mall include Afterland, Carrulla, Cinemark, Ktronix and Smart Fit. In addition, the mall has over 400 shops and businesses of all types.
The shops and businesses in the mall include banks, male and female fashion, children’s and youth clothing, footwear, jewelry, sporting goods, stationery, furniture and decoration, lingerie, opticians, travel agencies, restaurants and fast food places.
And for the kids there is even a small park with rides including a Ferris wheel and a train at the mall.
Rides for kids at the mall
A train ride for kids at El Tesoro
The banks in El Tesoro mall include Banco Caja Social, Banco de Bogotá, Banco de Occidente, Bancolombia, BBVA, Citibank and Davivienda.
Afterland in El Tesoro Mall
Afterland in El Tesoro
One of the anchor tenants of the mall is Afterland, which is a good place to go with kids. Afterland is a large arcade with many other attractions including laser guns, a 5D simulator, surfing simulator, playground, trampoline and several other attractions.
Afterland has different hours than the mall. It is open Tuesday to Friday from 2 pm to 8 pm, Saturday from 11 am to 8 pm and Sunday and holidays from noon to 8 pm.
The Carulla store in El Tesoro Mall
Carulla in El Tesoro
Carulla is an upscale supermarket chain in Colombia that is owned by Exito. In Medellín, Carrula has 10 grocery stores. Carulla also has grocery stores in many other cities in Colombia.
If you shop frequently at Carulla and/or Exito you should sign up for Puntos Colombia, which is a program that used to be known as Puntos Exito. Puntos Colombia is a frequent shopper program where you accumulate points for each purchase. You can use these points to purchase items in the future.
To sign up for Puntos Colombia you just need a Colombian cedula ID. And it’s essentially like getting 1 percent cash back on your purchase that you can use for future purchases. With the program you get 1 punto for every 700 pesos in purchases. And that 1 punto is worth 7 pesos.
Cinemark in El Tesoro Mall
Cinemark in El Tesoro
The first location of Cinemark in Colombia opened in 1999 and is located in the El Tesoro mall. Since that time, Cinemark has grown to a total of 35 movie theaters in Colombia with a total of 188 screens. Cinemark is also opening a location in the Arkadia mall that opened in November 2019.
This movie theater chain has movie theaters located in Armenia, Bogotá, Bucaramanga, Cali, Cúcata, Ibagué, Ipiales, Manizales, Medellín, Monteria, Neiva, Palmira, Pasto, Pereira, Santa Marta, Soacha, Tunja, Valledupar and Villavicencio.
For 17,900 pesos you can get Cinemark Gold Gold card that gives you discounts on Cinemark movie tickets and discounts on food.
The Ktronix store in El Tesoro Mall
Ktronix in El Tesoro
Ktronix is a chain of stores in Colombia that is somewhat similar to a Best Buy in the U.S. The Ktronix chain of stores sells electronics including audio equipment, cameras, cellphones, computers, televisions and videogames as well as home appliances.
Ktronix frequently has sales, which are advertised on its website and in flyers. For example, it is currently advertising the sale of a LG 43” LED TV normally priced at 2,099,900 pesos for only 1,199,900 pesos.
In Medellín, Ktronix has three stores located in El Poblado on Avenida Poblado and in the El Tesoro and Arkadia malls. It also has 11 stores in Bogotá, one in Bucaramanga, one in Cali and one in Villavicencio.
The Smart Fit in El Tesoro Mall
Smart Fit in El Tesoro
Smart Fit is a Brazil-based fitness chain that expanded to Colombia with the help of MAS FIT and Grupo Bio Ritmo.
The “Plan Smart” membership at Smart Fit costs 90,000 pesos to sign up and 59,900 pesos per month plus an annual maintenance of 89,000 pesos. This plan provides access to a single location.
And the “Plan Black” membership at Smart Fit costs 45,000 pesos to sign up and 69,900 pesos per month plus an annual maintenance of 89,000 pesos. This plan provides access to all Smart Fit locations and permits you to invite a friend.
In Medellín, Smart Fit has 10 locations plus an additional three locations in Envigado, two in Itagüí, one in Bello and one in Sabaneta. So, it has 17 locations in the metro area.
Smart Fit reportedly has a total of over 50 locations in Colombia with additional locations in Barranquilla, Bogotá, Cartagena, Cali, Ibaqué, Manizales, Montería, Neiva, Palmira and Popayán.
The larger food court in El Tesoro Mall
El Tesoro Food Options
El Tesoro has several locations in the mall with food options. There are over 25 fast food places and restaurants in the mall. There are a couple of food courts and other locations with food in the mall.
Fast food options include Burger King, Dunkin’ Donuts, Frisby, El Corral, J&C Delicias, KFC, McDonald’s, Qbano, Sarku Japan and Subway.
Restaurants in the mall include Chef Burger, Crepes & Waffles, Il Forno, Milagros, Parmessano and Pizzería Olivia.
Chef Burger in El Tesoro
Parmessano in El Tesoro
There is also a Starbucks, which was Starbuck’s fifth coffee shop in Medellín. In addition, there are two Juan Valdez Café locations in the mall.
Starbucks fifth coffee shop in Medellín in El Tesoro mall – opened in June 2017
One of two Juan Valdez Café locations in the mall
How to Get to El Tesoro Mall
El Tesoro’s biggest downside is its location, which is high up the hills of El Poblado. So, it’s not the most convenient location. And sometimes traffic can be bad going to or from the mall.
From the Poblado metro station it’s about a 10-15-minute taxi ride to the mall, depending of course on traffic. But with the common traffic in El Poblado, it can sometimes take 20 minutes or more.
Furthermore, any taxi driver in Medellín will know where El Tesoro mall is located. And it’s also fairly easy to catch a taxi at the mall with usually a few taxis lined up at the mall.
Also, if you drive, the mall has over 1,200 parking spaces available.
Website: https://eltesoro.com.co/
Address: Carrera 25A # 1A-45, El Poblado, Medellín
Telephone: +57 (4) 321 1010
Hours: Monday – Saturday: 10 am – 9 pm; Sunday and Holidays: 11 am – 8 pm.
The Most Popular Malls in Medellín
Several readers of Medellin Guru have asked for information about the malls in the Medellín metro area.
So, we have provided up-to-date guides to the 14 best and largest malls in the Medellín metro area in a series on this website:
- Viva Envigado – one of the newest malls in the Aburrá Valley located in Envigado, which is reportedly the largest mall in Colombia
- Santafé – one of the largest malls in Medellín located in El Poblado
- Mayorca Mega Plaza – a popular mall in Sabaneta with several outlet shops
- El Tesoro – Medellín’s popular mall with a view in El Poblado
- Premium Plaza – one of Medellín’s largest shopping malls with entertainment on the third floor
- Puerta del Norte – the largest and most popular mall in Bello
- Arkadia – the newest mall in Medellín and the nicest mall in Belén
- Los Molinos – the oldest Western-style mall in Belén
- Oviedo – the oldest mall in El Poblado.
- San Diego – the oldest mall in Medellín.
- Unicentro – the largest and most popular mall in Laureles-Estadio
- Monterrey – Medellín’s technology mall in El Poblado
- Florida Parque – the only Western-style mall in the Robledo comuna in Medellín
- La Central – the only Western-style mall in the Buenos Aires comuna in Medellín
Also, we included El Tesoro in our article about the 14 best malls in Medellín.
Inside El Tesoro Mall
Walking in the mall with views of the valley
View from El Tesoro on an overcast day
The Bottom Line: El Tesoro – Medellín’s Mall with a View
El Tesoro is a modern mall and it’s one of the nicest malls in Medellín with a big selection of shops.
The best feature of this mall is the views, which you won’t find in any of the other malls in the city. But that best feature is also its biggest downside, as the location of the mall, which is quite a way up the hills in El Poblado isn’t convenient, unless you live nearby.
Sign up for the Free Medellin Guru Newsletter – You can see all of the previous Medellin Guru weekly email newsletters and sign up here.
Editors note: updated on August 20, 2018 to reflect the change in Exito’s frequent shopping program that has changed from Puntos Exito to Puntos Colombia.
Editors note: updated on October 6, 2018 to add the new Viva Envigado mall.
Editors note: updated on November 14, 2019 to add the Arkadia mall, which is the newest mall in Medellín.
6 thoughts on “El Tesoro: A Guide to Medellín’s Popular Mall with a View”
Nice article about this mall. I live nearby and go there for lunch frequently. During the week during the daytime it´s not very busy but gets very busy in the evening and on weekends. The traffic up the hills in Poblado can get horrible during rush hour.
Hi Sam, thanks! I agree with you that traffic up the hills in El Poblado and other parts of El Poblado can get horrible during rush hour.
I agree that El Tesoro is a nice mall with nice views. But the traffic in El Poblado makes it difficult to go to the mall and from the mall. There aren´t enough roads up the hills in El Poblado so you sometimes just sit in traffic for a long time.
Hi Kim, yes, the difficulty in getting to and from this mall is the biggest downside of this mall. And during rush hour you can get stuck in traffic for a long time.
Sometimes I fantasize that all cars will disappear and the humble paisa bus will take me anywhere in a few minutes… Poblado, all of Poblado, is a disaster, also very polluted. Yesterday I went to a meeting in one of the many CoWorking spaces there, and really felt bad because of all the smoke. Sad…
I found Tesoro to be an extremely pretentious mall. Overpriced items, small selection, and nosy security guards that protested when I took a photo of the atrium. Also, every clothing store I went to wanted to see my ID at the check out.
I found the Santa Fe mall to be much more down to Earth.