Peruvian Soul

This hotel was a jewel. It's tucked in a narrow street and you don't know how beautiful it is until you go through the door. The patio is the first thing you see and it's so pretty-lots of seating and firepits for cool nights. The restaurant is right off the rear and the bar as well, both of which are great. Our room was perfect for us. A comfortable king size bed, several bottles of water throughout the room, space for our clothes, and coffee/tea if we wanted it. The room was very clean and the waters were replaced several times each day and there is also a filtered water fountain in the lobby. Everyone was very friendly and personable. We had a spa treatment our last day (massage and then they hyperbaric chamber--so great!) and that was wonderful. The lobby has a neat little room off to the side that has waters, teas, and coffee for you. The restaurant was great too--we ate breakfast there each morning which included a delicious buffet with fruits, oatmeal, breads, salads, fresh juices, and coffee or you could order from the menu. They also served lunch and dinner, and everything we ate was yummy. The bar staff was so friendly and made drink recommendations for us. We loved sitting at the open window at the bar and watching the activity on the patio. The location was great--within walking distance of so many restaurants, shops, market places. The entire vibe was wonderful and we would definitely stay there again.

This was one of the best things we did. Seledonia was so much fun and although she couldn't speak much English and we couldn't speak Spanish, we could communicate wonderfully through smiles, laughter and gestures. She took us, along with our guide, to a local market that was incredible. All the vegetables, fruits, spices, meats, potatoes--it was mind blowing. And so beautiful!! We picked out the items we needed to make our dinner and then walked to her restaurant, Mama Seledonia's. We chopped and diced and had a grand time. We also got to make Pisco Sours, a delightful cocktail that was delicious. We had so much fun shaking those and dancing around. Our first course was a lamb stew that percolated on the stove while we chopped more veggies and spiced our filets for the main course, a delicious Peruvian-Asian fusion dish served with rice. We sauteed all that up on an open flame and didn't burn the place down. For dessert we had fresh fruit, fresh cheeses, and this amazing bread that we dipped in some sort of magical melted chocolate drink. The whole experience was absolutely incredible. We laughed and hugged and had the absolute best time. Her whole staff was so friendly, even though you know we were in their way (the restaurant was open for business). We met her husband and 2 of her children and they were delightful as well. We loved it so much, that later that week when we met up with some of our retreat group members, we all went to dinner at Mama Seledonia's and it was by far one of the best meals we had while in Peru. I highly recommend you do the cooking class.

The lake was so pretty and our guide was a very passionate young man who loved the outdoors and taking us on our kayak journey. We were given wetsuits and taken to the water to start paddling. It was a very quiet lake, we were the only people on it for the longest time. Our guide told us about all the mountain ranges, the different birds that are there, some of the history, and at the end I jumped off and went swimming. The water was so refreshing! Oh, we also so flamingos. It was a great trip. Not very strenuous at all. After kayaking, we went back to shore and showered (they have a rudimentary outdoor shower) and were given a wonderful lunch cooked totally outdoors in a clay oven. It was so good, along with fresh fruits. Again, the people there were so kind and friendly. We were lucky and the weather was perfect!

This was a lot of fun--ATVs are a great way to get around! We had a little "training" session first before heading out and then we followed out guide off to Moray to see the Incan Experimental Lab. There wasn't much traffic and he went slowly so we didn't have to worry about keeping up. He gave signals to us when to change gears and when to slow down/stop. We were able to stop and take photos and ask questions. The Experimental Lab was incredible to see--the ingenuity of the Incans is mind blowing. We were there for about 15 minutes and then we went back the way we came and dropped the ATVs off. The whole ATV experience was probably 1.5-2 hours. We definitely enjoyed it. We then got back in our van and went to the Maras salt flats. There weren't many people there as it was late in the afternoon, so that was nice. The salt flats are beautiful, and the reflection of the sun just enhanced their beauty. Julio, our trusty guide, filled us in on the history, past and present, and it was fascinating. We saw some women actually scraping the salt into piles to let it dry. On the way out, we bought some salt to bring home with us. Definitely worth visiting.

This hotel is right across from the airport, so extremely convenient. It's nothing special in terms of rooms or amenities, but it suited our needs perfectly (arrived to Lima late and had an early flight the next morning).

Great location if you're interested in exploring the Amazon rainforest, since it's relatively close to Puerto Maldonado (10 minute drive followed by a 45 minute boat ride). It also has more creature comforts than I suspect is typical for a jungle hotel, the food was better than I expected, and the excursions and the guides were excellent. One thing to be aware of is that there's no cell service there and they don't have wi-fi.

This was a gorgeous hotel and a convenient base for the Sacred Valley. We generally like to explore in the evenings and there really isn't much within walking distance, but we had long days and early mornings, so we were pretty tired by the time we got back anyway.

I absolutely loved this hotel. The location was perfect - extremely close to the train station and just a tiny bit off the main tourist strip so you could easily walk around but it was quiet at night. The giant jacuzzi in the room was perfect for after our Inca Trail hike.

This was easily my least favorite of the hotels we stayed at. The room was small and dark and had little annoyances - no outlets near the bed, which is frustrating since most people use Cusco as a base for early excursions, and just about everyone uses their phone as an alarm. There also wasn't a full-length mirror anywhere in the room and the bathroom only had one towel hook - these are such obvious oversights and easy fixes that it shows a lack of care on the hotel's part. The location was decent - it was on the main avenue, but the opposite end as a lot of stuff; we had a 15-20 minute walk to get to most bars, restaurants, and shops. On the positive side, the bed was comfortable and the staff were friendly.

Great location, right by the lake, with a private dock for excursions to the floating islands. I wish the overall ambiance in the common areas were better since there's nothing within walking distance. The restaurant and bar very much felt like you were sitting in a hotel lobby, but the quality of food and drink was pretty good. There also wasn't anywhere to refill water bottles. They sold large bottles for really cheap so it wasn't a huge deal, but it seemed unnecessary to waste all that plastic. The room was quite comfortable.

I loved this hotel. The location was perfect, right in the heart of Miraflores. It had all the amenities you might want, including a gym and heated rooftop pool, and a fun rooftop bar. The room was small but comfortable and well laid out, and soundproofing was excellent. We were right below the rooftop bar on Friday and Saturday night, and didn't hear any noise from it. The breakfast was also really good, and staff friendly.

I'm only going to do one review for the three days we were here, because the excursions were in a different order from this itinerary. We really enjoyed all of the activities though. There was a decent amount of physical activity but nothing too strenuous, and we saw some great wildlife over the course of the three days. We had the same guide each day, and he was was excellent.

I had no idea what to expect going into this activity, but I really enjoyed it. You really need to do it with a guide so that you actually know what you're looking at, and Julio was outstanding for that. The salt mines at Maras were really impressive, as was the Inca site at Moray, even more so when we were getting an explanation of their purpose while walking through them.

I think this was our first meal not at a hotel, and it was excellent. It was really fun to learn about and watch the underground cooking process (they essentially made a natural underground pressure cooker), and all the food was delicious. The farm also has a distillery and coffee roaster onsite - we were able to do a tasting at the distillery which was also fun.

The Inca site walk was really interesting and fun to explore. We didn't spend much time going through the village, I think because of our stop at a brewery on the way back. The timing worked out well for us since we had a very early start for the Inca trail the next day, but I wouldn't have minded a bit more time in the village.

Such a cool experience. I'm really glad we did this, rather than just taking the bus directly to Machu Picchu. The hike was hard but definitely manageable, and our guide was patient. Climbing up to the Sun Temple and getting the first birds eye view of Machu Picchu was incredible and made the whole experience worth it.

Great overview of Machu Picchu, really cool to walk through the ruins, and Julio's background information was really interesting and useful.

The food was really good, lots of options to choose from.

It was cool to interact directly with the bartender and watch him make unique cocktails. For each one, he gave us three straws for us to share the drink, and I would have strongly preferred that he divided them into three glasses, even though it would have impacted the presentation. Also, no cooking was involved; it was just drinks. That's fine, since we had a large lunch immediately after, but the title is misleading.

Great overview of the city, lots of interesting information.

Seledonia is such a fun personality, and the class was great. It was very hands on, and we had a great time.

This was about 10 hours including the stops. We had to get to Puno somehow, and a long bus ride is never going to be fun, and this one was relatively comfortable. The stops were nice in theory, but all of them were about twice as long as necessary - they ranged from 40-60 minutes, and 20-30 would have been sufficient to stretch our legs and see the sites. The bus was supposed to have wifi which they never turned on, and the guide was extremely talkative without really providing much useful information. Overall, a relatively comfortable way to get from Cusco to Puno though.

We had a private tour with pickup from our hotel's dock, which was really nice. It was great to meet with one of the local communities and see their way of life.

Worth a stop on the way to the airport, but I wouldn't go out of my way for it. Fun to walk around the tombs though.

We did the evening tour due to a flight delay, and had a great time. There was a lot of back and forth between Barranco and Miraflores, which meant a lot of time in the car. I loved the guided walk around Barranco and there were plenty of restaurants there, so I think I would have preferred staying in that neighborhood and doing a walking food tour, especially since we were staying in Miraflores and it's very tourist friendly, so we could have done those spots on our own. We had a fun time though.

Beautiful hotel, large rooms. Generous breakfast. Coffee and ice cream shop at the hotel.

Clean large rooms. Well situated at the bus stop for MP. Simple breakfast. Thin walls.

Good location. Rooms are small but clean. Excellent staff, responsive to concerns. No air-conditioning, and windows open to enclosure, not fresh air.

Fun activity for active teenagers. Took longer than anticipated, so should have brought food.