ostello a Arequipa

Family of four (50, 49, 16 and 14 YO) stayed 12/29/23 - 1/4/24 The location is perfect! Directly on Plaza de Armas, adjacent to the cathedral, the hotel has a view of the plaza from the fifth-floor balcony and the second-floor restaurant. We had one room on the fifth floor and one on the third. The rooms were nice, comfortable, and very clean. We looked at the Casa Andina Premium - the building certainly looked nicer but the location is not nearly as good. The location was too good to pass up. Food at the hotel's restaurant (LaPlaza) was great. Excellent breakfast which was included with the stay, and we ate dinner there twice. So nice eating outside on the patio with a view of the Plaza. I would have given it five stars except for two negative experiences: One - we arranged a shuttle from the airport with the hotel (Ashley Guzman contact), in advance that never showed up. I confirmed with the hotel the day before our travel. It turned out to be relatively easy to order an Uber while at the airport, but by that time we had already waited 45min. When traveling on family trips to new cities I like to order a shuttle ahead of time. I don't feel like waiting and/or negotiating with taxi services with a big family after a long flight, and Uber tends to be spotty in smaller foreign cities. I tried calling and emailing the hotel while waiting for the ride but couldn't get through and they didn't respond to emails. For some reason Uber drivers in Arequipa cancel trips often, i had three cancel at the airport before one finally accepted. Two - I made dinner reservations through the hotel at Alma (Casa Andina Premium restaurant) for New Years Eve two weeks in advance. I confirmed multiple times (Paolo Rodriguez contact), including the day we checked in, 12/29, as I was concerned about not having reservations for New Year's eve. When the time came we got dressed up, walked over to Casa Andina Premium and of course, they had no record of our reservation and couldn't accommodate us. It was quite frustrating since it was New Year's and we had no backup plan. However, putting the experiences into the context of our broader experience in Arequipa it is not surprising. Arequipa is not as tourist-friendly as Lima, which is what attracted us to it in the first place, and reservations just don't seem to be common in the city.

Excellent, excellent, excellent!!! I stayed at Tierra Viva Plaza Arequipa during my holidays in one of the most beautiful cities in Peru 🇵🇪: Arequipa . The location is great, safe and near the best touristic places, shops and restaurants to be visited. All the staff at Tierra Viva Plaza Arequipa hotel is 1000% helpful, polite, friendly and ready to run the second mile. Thank you for such an amazing customer service to all of them!!!😀 Wonderful a**osphere !! Nice music !!! Clean and fresh rooms !!! Delicious breakfast !!! Brilliant staff !!! Punctual transference from Cruz del Sur/ Airport to the hotel and viceversa !!! Superb customer service !!! Of course, I can recommend this ‘brilliant’ hotel to ever who would like to visit, enjoy and have the most amazing experience and holidays in Arequipa😊. Thank you !!!

Nice decor and styling in the rooms, large and comfortable bed (we had a private room just a bit back from the pool area). The inclusion of a fridge was a plus point. The cleaning staff were helpful and courteous. When we checked in, the guys working reception helped us up to the room with our luggage (I had been volunteering in Arequipa for 2 months prior so had a few bags). However, when I asked on our way out if they had anyone available to help take our luggage to the taxi, it was a hard “no ofrecemos ese servicio” 😕 So I guess it depends who’s working that day as to what level of service you get. The bar area around the pool was nice with lots of seating options to chill out, but the water in the pool was absolutely freezing and even cold water swimmers wouldn’t be in there much more than 10 minutes! I removed quite a lot of bugs during my swim, so a regular clean with a net wouldn’t go amiss. The worst aspect of this place was the obnoxiously loud and unrelenting music. I couldn’t even get peace and quiet in our private bathroom. I get that the poolside party is their vibe, but I really don’t think they need quite so many hours of it in their schedule. With retrospect, I’d have chosen a quieter hotel. Finally, we booked a massage. I thought it would be a nice way to round off our trip, the price was equivalent to about £30 GBP which I thought was a good deal. I’d had an excellent massage at Selina in Baños, Ecuador, so I was looking forward to it. Well, both my massage (hot stones) and the one my boyfriend had (regular massage) were so comically bad that we still joke about it 6 months later. I asked the masseuse in fluent Spanish 5 times and in a variety of different ways to really use a bit more pressure, but no…. the two of us spent an hour each being half-heartedly rubbed with oil by someone who clearly had received very little training and was unable to locate any knots, any areas of tension, anything. I actually left more tense than I went in! I did tell the reception so I sincerely hope they have recruited a new massage therapist. Overall, there are some benefits to Selina such as the relative proximity to the city centre whilst also having a pool. However, I wouldn’t rush back and didn’t find it quite as good as the other Selinas I’ve stayed in in Central and South America.

With a stay at Mint Hotel in Arequipa (Historical Center), you'll be within a 5-minute drive of Arequipa Plaza de Armas and Mario Vargas Llosa Palace. This spa hotel is 0.6 mi (1 km) from Iglesia San Juan Batista and 0.6 mi (1 km) from La Mansión del Fundador.Relax at the full-service spa, where you can enjoy massages, body treatments, and facials. This hotel also features complimentary wireless internet access, concierge services, and wedding services.You can enjoy a meal at Sabore serving the guests of Mint Hotel, or stop in at the snack bar/deli. Quench your thirst with your favorite drink at the bar/lounge. A complimentary cooked-to-order breakfast is served daily from 6:00 AM to 10:00 AM.Featured amenities include complimentary wired internet access, a 24-hour business center, and express check-in. Event facilities at this hotel consist of a conference center and a meeting room. A roundtrip airport shuttle is provided for a surcharge (available on request), and free self parking is available onsite.Make yourself at home in one of the 30 individually decorated guestrooms, featuring minibars and flat-screen televisions. Your bed comes with down comforters and premium bedding. Complimentary wireless internet access keeps you connected, and cable programming is available for your entertainment. Bathrooms have showers and hair dryers.