Inka Tower

The hotel's central spot is handy: about three minutes on foot to the bus and five to the train station. During the day, though, the train toots every 25 minutes, there's a primary school behind the building, and a building site and children's fair across the street made it very noisy even with the balcony door and window shut. Inside, the room was clean and the reception area looked nice, but the bathroom was tiny, barely leaving a millimeter of space to close the door by the toilet. The loo roll was on the opposite wall under the counter, and the toilet and bath needed a proper scrub around the edges. The bath was the smallest I've ever seen, though it had a shower. The room was minimalist, with one night table, one chair, no shelves, and a tiny wardrobe with four hangers. Even three people would only fit a few things in there. We had a double room with one single and one double bed. The TV seemed set to pay-per-view only, but we reset it and got all the channels. There was no heater, and the key-operated safe was so small I didn't trust it, so I took valuables to dinner. You have to buy bottled water. We were leaving before breakfast, so I can't comment on it. Check-in took a long time because of a booking misunderstanding, and they tried to pair us with the couple we'd been trekking with. Later, reception was too busy for me to get anyone's attention when I came down before dinner, and when we returned there was no receptionist around. Afterward, we found that the luggage storage wasn't secure: our bags had been rummaged through and something electrical was missing. When we came back from the street, nobody charged us for picking up the luggage. Reception was busy again, with someone on her phone and talking to another person. This was a random arranged stay after our tour operator messed up our trek, and we don't know what the hotel was booked for because the operator is trying to make things right. It's the cheapest hotel in the area, but I can't say I'm excited about it.

The one thing going for this place was how close it is to the train station. Our tour company booked it for our group, and the whole floor smelled strongly of mildew. The comforter was stained, the sheets didn't look clean, and the bathrooms were really tiny with grime still in the shower. When I went to turn on the water, the faucet came right off, as if it were barely attached. Staff charged us $100 even after we explained several times that we hadn't broken it and it came off with the lightest touch. I wouldn't recommend staying here. It's worth leaving town after Machu Picchu or paying a bit more for a better place.

The room I stayed in was very small, but the staff were friendly. It's centrally located, close to the train station and the bus station for Machu Picchu. I'd still recommend it.

The staff were incredibly friendly and helpful, and the location was amazing. Nice rooms too.