Hostal Luna del Titikaka

Had such an amazing stay, thank you!

Ilha da Lua feels magical: it’s peaceful, safe, quiet, and there are lots of places to explore. Luna del Titikaka is a beautiful hostel surrounded by nature and lovely, calm people with easy smiles. The beds are comfortable, and the clean sheets and blankets are just right for the cold nights. Some rooms have an incredible view of Lake Titikaka. The food is delicious, and the best part is the Aymara hosts, Seu Roberto and Dona Viviana. They’re kind, attentive to what guests need, and always happy to share a smile or a great conversation. I really recommend the experience of staying with them.

We had a wonderful stay with Roberto and Viviana. The rooms are incredible, with private bathrooms, blankets, and lake views. Their warmth and hospitality made it feel like we’d been invited to share a little of their lives. It was a truly magical experience.

After we left, the couple running this hostel cancelled our booking.com stay, even though we’d spent two nights there. It’s clear to me why the reviews are so positive: cancelling after guests leave avoids negative comments. I now understand the 8.7 rating. This feels like a complete scam, and it seems to be the only way people keep going there. Don’t say you can’t find my name in your bookings. I have photos proving we stayed both nights, and proof that you cancelled the reservation as if we’d never been there. Before heading to the island, I had questions about how to get there and messaged Sr. Roberto in advance. He didn’t answer my questions about reaching the island. In Copacabana I was charged 800bs (€105) just to get to the island, three times the cost of one night’s stay. I asked sr. Roberto whether he’d been running the business for long and he said yes. But when I asked how guests got to and from the island, he just shrugged. I told him I was unhappy about the arrangement and his lack of answers before I came. I asked how I’d get back to Copacabana, and he shrugged again. A few minutes later he said shared boats left from the other side of the island at 11h, then a few minutes after that he said they only showed up at 17h. When I got there, I saw several boats arriving and leaving the island every day. The host’s changing answers left me with a very clear impression that the couple make money by trying to sell trips to other islands and have an arrangement with whoever brings guests to their hostel. The room we stayed in was neglected too. It was dirty, with hairs all over the bathroom floor and on the soaps left by previous guests, plus dead crickets and cockroaches on the floor. It looked like they hadn’t bothered to clean before we arrived. The windows don’t close, leaving all your belongings exposed. After everything else, I didn’t trust anything. The breakfast is described as continental, but in reality it was just coffee, stale or fried bread, and tea. On the first day I also got a glass of orange juice and butter, but not even that on the second. I ate half a stale bread roll and had coffee, with Sr. Roberto sitting about half a metre away the whole time. Dinner has to be shared with the family if it’s raining or simply because it’s nighttime. The atmosphere got tense because we hadn’t accepted the tours they wanted to sell us. There’s no Wi-Fi, and not even a single outlet to charge anything. I’ve visited 40 countries and this is one of the few places I’d never return to or recommend. The island is beautiful. It’s a shame about the lack of honesty and the trick of cancelling the stay to prevent honest reviews.