Amaru Express

Parking worked well for both motorcycles, which was our main concern. The room was eventually clean and had warm water, though it wasn't the one we'd booked. The first part of the stay was rough: we arrived at 2:30 p.m. and were told check-in was at 3:00. Once we started at 3:00, they said the room needed another hour. When we were finally shown in, it hadn't been cleaned, and they wouldn't move us, so we waited another 30 minutes. Nobody offered us a drink or did anything to make us feel welcome. That first encounter colored the rest of the stay, which was a shame because Arica has a lot to offer. There is a lift, but it doesn't reach our rooms, and we had a lot of luggage. The room had no bedside sockets, despite the listing, and the air conditioner had no remote. I could have asked about it, but we didn't need the air conditioning and I'd run out of energy to deal with reception again. The lock also tended to stick and could leave the door unlocked, though once we knew about it, we could manage. Breakfast was good overall, but some items ran out within 30 minutes of service starting. When we asked for boiled eggs, they said those were gone but offered scrambled eggs instead. The breakfast staff seemed stretched and focused on serving the coach group at tables instead of refilling the buffet for everyone else.

The breakfast was simple but filling for the low price. There are also inexpensive places for lunch and dinner, under $5, less than a 10-minute walk away at the corner market on Colon and Maipú streets. The rooms were clean and hygienic. They should check the light switches and chairs more consistently, though, since some lights didn't work and some rooms had chairs while others had none.

Good location, and the service was okay.

It smelled bad, and the noise was even worse. Awful.