Cusco Hotel Boutique

Being close to downtown Cusco made it easy to reach shops, restaurants, ATMs, and many historic sights on foot. The front desk staff were generous with their help, and the hotel looks neat, with a lovely view of the city after dark. It worked as a simple place to sleep, though I have mixed feelings about the stay. The biggest problem was the cold. I stayed for two nights in early September, and the whole building felt freezing, especially with the room windows left wide open when I arrived. The bathroom and bedroom floors were stone, with no rugs, and I only had one bath towel and one hand towel. There was no shampoo, conditioner, or body soap. The jacuzzi buttons and jets didn’t work, and there was no plug to fill the tub. The shower had no wall or curtain, so water went all over the floor. I wasn’t too surprised by that kind of shower, but it was miserable in such a cold room with no extra towels or rug. A nearby hotel I stayed in later did have heat, so it wasn’t just a Peru thing. The staff were accommodating and I appreciated their help. For a quick, basic stay near downtown it may be fine, depending on what you can put up with and how long you’re staying.

They were friendly the whole time and even kept our bags while we went sightseeing. The rooms were high quality, and the place is close to some good sights around town. Really nice stay.

The central location comes with a lot of noise, so be ready for that. Also, don’t count on much from the breakfast, even though it’s listed as included. We got cold, unpleasant coffee, two pieces of pastry, and just half a slice of cheese and half a slice of salami each. Maybe it was a bad joke, or maybe someone on staff was taking the food. Either way, I’d tell management to stop offering breakfast.

The noise and smell made it hard to sleep here. The nightclub downstairs played thumping music until 4:30 a.m. on Wednesday, and people were banging on the front door until 4:45 a.m. Saturday. We were kept awake on the other nights too. Its kitchen fried rancid oil for about five hours each night right under our room, and the smell came through the floorboards. It was vile, and other guests mentioned the stink at breakfast. Getting in was another problem. The front door was locked during the day, and one afternoon we couldn’t get into the hotel for over three hours because nobody was at the supposedly 24-hour reception. They don’t give you a front door key. At checkout we left our key at the desk with someone else’s, since once again nobody was there. Five minutes later staff chased us down the street saying we hadn’t paid for any of our four nights. We had booked two nights through one app and two through another. One app had paid the hotel directly; the other apparently required payment at the hotel, but nobody asked when we arrived, so we didn’t know it was outstanding. The staff were rude, threatened to call the police, didn’t apologize when we showed email receipts for the two paid nights, refused to use a translator, and turned down our offer to pay for the other two nights three times. The rooftop breakfast room has sliding glass windows, no fourth wall, and is freezing. The breakfast itself was nice, with eggs, fruit salad, and coffee. The hotel cat also defecated in the stairway plant pots, which stank, and jumped onto breakfast tables to eat cheese and meat while people were eating. Disgusting. Earlier, staff had been cordial and let us wash clothes in their machine because of asthma. But Valentino followed us around like a hawk, which was bizarre, then tried to charge us for 7 kg of laundry even though it had been weighed four times before at 2.5 kg. In the end we were charged double what we’d paid at self-service laundries in Lima, Guatemala, and Ecuador. There was also confusion over the room payment at checkout, and staff handled it appallingly. Sorry to Christian, who was great, but these people seem very inexperienced and shouldn’t be in hospitality. Kelly (Margarita) was the rudest reception worker we’ve ever dealt with. The argument escalated because she wouldn’t listen or use a translator, as people in the industry elsewhere do. With so many other good options in Cusco, I recommend staying somewhere else.