Inkarri Cusco

The room and location were fine, but after our first night, we found that someone had gone through all our bags and taken 20 soles from one we’d left behind. There had been 100 soles in it, the bag was opened differently, and the money had been arranged differently, so we knew it was missing. We told the front desk, and they said they’d “have a talk with staff.” That was all.

The place looked nice, but that was the only real upside. My reservation was for a different room, but they said a “system error” had left it booked for someone else, so I spent the first night in a standard room. Not a good first impression. My first shower was ice cold because the manager Abran had turned off the gas, and I had to ask for hot water. Before going on an excursion, I told the front desk girl (yachira) not to enter my room because my suitcase was open. She ignored me and went in anyway. There’s no fridge or microwave in the rooms, and the food was always cold unless I asked them to heat it. At checkout, they said I still had to pay even though Expedia had already charged me. I had high expectations and was truly disappointed. I would not recommend this place. If you come across it, please avoid it.

My tour company included this hotel in the package I bought months ahead of time. I don’t know whether they or the hotel were responsible for the missing reservation, but when I arrived there was still time to find me a room and they didn’t. I waited while they scrambled to put something together. Unlike the other customers, my bag wasn’t brought to the room. They eventually gave me Room 104, which felt like a basement conversion. There was only a latch on the door, one that could easily be kicked in. The room had no proper window I could escape through if a fire or person came in at the front door. It was dark and smelled of stagnant moldy water. The two lights were poor: a dim overhead bulb that seemed to be 40 W and a bedside lamp whose bulb blew as soon as I turned it on. The furnishings were questionable. Paint rubbed off the furniture onto the walls, the fabric covering the bed’s boxspring was filthy, and there was a dead insect on the floor. Paint peeled from the ceiling, and mold seeped through the paint on the street side. I asked to change rooms and was told there was nothing available. They offered no other solution, and I was afraid to sleep there, so I kept the light on. The next day I told the tour company about the safety problems, and remarkably they changed my room that day. The second-floor room was 100% better. The hotel was described by my tour company as three stars, but absolutely not. I’d call it one star, depending on the room, and mine wasn’t safe. There weren’t even basics like a refrigerator or a bottle of water. Dinner wasn’t served. The only good thing about my room was that I didn’t stay long, since it was the last stop on my tour. My tour company should seriously reconsider sending customers there until the basics are fixed, including proper locks on all doors and a real window in every room. The first-room window was only a piece of plexiglass held in place with bolts. The clerk at the desk was either a young man who needed customer service training or a young woman who tried to fix some of my room issues. Outside the rooms, the landscaping was lovely, with a unique stone floor, several seating areas in the common spaces, and heat lamps, which were nice. But I only need a room to be clean and safe, and Room 104 was neither. If you reserve here, I strongly advise looking at the room before agreeing to stay. Also, anyone with mobility issues should choose somewhere else. There are steps just to get in, cobblestones to cross, and no elevator to the second floor. A walker would be a nightmare on those floors.

The courtyards and outdoor spaces give the hotel some charm, and it’s nicely located. The rooms are average, though. The walls are thin enough that you hear neighbors, and the sound of flushing water kept me awake. Beds are small and there’s no luggage rack. Breakfast has a decent range, but things weren’t replenished by the end. For a place to crash after sightseeing, it’ll do. If you want comfort and modern amenities, look elsewhere.