Hostal Samani

We stumbled on Samani after arriving in Cusco and looking for somewhere near the main plaza. The rooms were clean, the Wi-Fi worked well, and the family running the place made us feel at home.

The rooms are basic and cheap, and the Wi-Fi is good. There’s quite a bit of construction happening right now, though I expect it to be finished soon.

It’s peaceful here despite being close to the plaza. The place is really nice, and the staff are very accommodating. I’d definitely recommend it.

The location is great and it wasn’t expensive, but the service needs a lot of improvement. We asked beforehand whether the room would have a heater since we were traveling in May, in the middle of autumn. They said it wasn’t necessary because it wouldn’t get very cold. At 10 p.m. on our first night, it was 4 degrees. There were huge gaps above the bathroom window and beneath the bathroom door, so cold air came through into the room. We asked to move, but were shown two rooms with the same issue, one even worse. In the end we stuffed the gaps with foam and tape, but the cold still got in. The room had no Wi-Fi reception either. The signal only worked downstairs in the kitchen. We had to ask for toilet paper and bath towels, and they weren’t replenished. I ended up going to get them myself on the second night. We were out all Sunday, our third day, and had asked for the room to be cleaned and the towels changed. When we got back, only the bed had been made. There was a huge amount of dust under it, including a bird feather. The towels were still damp, and with the cold they weren’t drying. Breakfast was simple. You had to ask for milk, butter, and instant coffee; otherwise, all that was on the table was bread and boiling water.