Hotel El Gran Caiman

I arrived after an evening flight for a one-night stay before an early flight out. I’d booked for July 11-12, and I speak Spanish, so language wasn’t the issue. It was nearly impossible to arrange an airport pickup: they wanted advance payment by credit card over email, which I refused. They finally agreed I could pay later, but nobody showed up. The taxi I found had trouble locating the hostal, and the driver was uneasy about dropping me in that neighborhood. He offered to return for my flight so I wouldn’t have to wait for a taxi on the street. The sign said hostal, and it looked low-rent, but I knew it was only $27. The desk clerk couldn’t find my reservation and held my passport longer than I felt was reasonable. Eventually I spoke by phone with someone about the mix-up. There was no elevator, so someone carried my heavy suitcase to the third floor. They showed me a room that wasn’t the one I’d booked, and I had to convince them I’d reserved a specific room with a jacuzzi tub. While I waited for the room change, booking confirmation, and passport copying, I could hear people having sex. I also saw women coming in with wet hair and men on their arms. A sign on my door said guests would be charged extra if blood or bodily fluids were found on the bedding or towels. The tub didn’t work, and enough tiles were missing along the bottom that I could see into the building. I worried rats or bugs might get into the room while I slept. The door and lock felt flimsy, so I pushed furniture against it. As a woman traveling alone, I felt very, very scared, as if I were in a brothel in a frightening neighborhood. I called a taxi and went to another hotel.

Very nice staff, and everything was clean.

It was good.

We paid 170 soles for facilities that were all in bad condition. The place was filthy: when we switched on the jacuzzi, rose petal bits came out along with a putrid smell. The sauna was dirty and had a spider, and we found cockroaches in the room. DO NOT COME.