Kazza3013

hello, My husband and I with 2 kids (9,12) will be in Lima for 5 nights, I think it's probably best to stay in the Barranco area and I'm keen on Second Home B&B, but I'm keen to hear any recommendations or suggestions?

mlgb

I have stayed there a few times and it doesn't strike me as a "family friendly" place. For example, some of the artworks displayed in Second Home are X-rated.

The other issue is that it can be rather short on the service side of things, depending on the mood of the owner. Sometimes she is cordial and sometimes less so..

If this is your first visit to Lima I might try to find somewhere with a good front desk/concierge type service. It might even mean staying in Miraflores rather than Barranco.

Maybe the new Hilton? It is in a fairly quiet/safe area (for Lima).

Kazza3013

Thanks migb, it does look very good, but a bit pricey....

colduphere

We stayed here for two nights. It is not in Barranco but it is in a good area and perfect for a family.

http://www.tripadvisor.com/ShowUserR...eview243691766

Kazza3013

thanks colduphere, that looks great and I love the price. Was it annoying to be so far away from the popular areas and catching taxis all the time?

colduphere

Kazza - That's a simple question with a complicated answer. We were really only there for 1.5 days on our way into the country so we didn't get tired of the taxis. In fact during the day the taxis provide an interesting look at the city. And the people who run the hotel are great. They will always get you one. On the other hand I did hesitate when I read five nights. I am not sure what your plan is but several days of taking taxis from any part of the city might get tiring. You might want to be closer to whatever you plan on doing in Lima (although San Isidro - where the Peru Star is - is centrally located).

Some friends from Lima advised us to be very cautious about taking taxis from taxi stands or off the street. In fact our friend interviewed three drivers before he let us get into a taxi at a major shopping center. So if there is any nervousness it is not taking a cab from your hotel but finding one to get back.

We had three teenagers with us. Lima was a great experience for them. You'll have a great time.

Kazza3013

Great to know colduphere. We are staying 5 nights because we will have just arrived from Australia and need a few days to get over jet lag and will be happy to have some quiet days. It also fitted in with the rest of our itinerary to stay that long. I haven't searched what to do there yet, but hopefully we will find enough to occupy ourselves.
I get the impression that people tend to catch taxis everywhere, no matter where they are staying, so this location may not be too much of an issue. But I'm wondering what criteria your friend used to choose your taxi? That now makes me feel a bit nervous....

crellston

We spent quite a bit of time in Lima last year. For our first visit we stayed in Miraflores at http://www.pucllanalodge.com/en/ which was in a pretty good location and had really helpful owners.

When we returned we rented an apartment in Barranco but I think that may only be available for a week or more. It was in a quiet ( ish) location on the Miraflores side so it was only a 15 mi walk to Larcomar centre along the coast.

There for five weeks we only used a taxi once to get to the airport. The rest of the time we used the Metropolitano lines or walked.

Fantastic City. You will love it!

colduphere

Kazza - We are asking him through his daughter what he was looking for (this may take a day or two - they are in Lima, we are in Canada). I am pretty sure the answer is going to be something like ... a registered cab, license visible, clean car, no one else in the car and someone who was willing to answer a couple of questions.

We were somewhat surprised at this process as well. But taxi safety comes second nature to Lima residents, especially a guy like him (mining executive, looks like he has money). Talking to a few drivers was regular procedure for him.

Lots of people telephone for taxis to feel more secure.

colduphere

If accurate this would help:

http://www.peruthisweek.com/news-big...a-taxis-101971

Kazza3013

thanks colduphere, much appreciated. Oh, yes the new taxi rules would be terrific.

Thanks too crellston, I'll take a look at that lodge

colduphere

Well good news I suppose. This is from the daughter who will check with her father but is pretty sure this is what he was doing.

1) Checking for ID/license registration. Some drivers hang an ID card from their mirror to show they are driving a registered cab.

2) Ensuring the car was not a piece of junk.

But now two things I didn't know:

3) Asking the drivers if they knew where our hotel was. This is pretty funny as in the end our driver couldn't find our hotel and was driving around in circles. We knew we were close so we just got out and gave him his 10 soles (I may have given him 15 as at that point we just wanted to get out of the taxi.) If you google Lima taxis you will find that many drivers do not know the city very well.

4) He negotiated a fare for us. I knew he told me it would be 10S but I thought that was an estimate. But it was a firm price (although it wasn't too firm as I didn't know it was firm lol).

Anyway, sorry to worry you. Look for registration, ensure the car is younger than you are and negotiate a price if you want.

The father has just confirmed all of the above with special mention of checking to see if the drivers knew where our hotel was. That is funny.

mlgb

The limaeasy.com website has more taxi safety tips here, as well as lots of other safety and general info such as how to spot counterfeit money.
http://www.limaeasy.com/getting-arou.../taxis-in-lima

Another tip given was to pretend to text the drivers ID to someone. Of course don't do this on a fancy iPhone.

Kazza3013

Colduphere I really appreciate this helpful information and the effort you've been to.

Migb great tips too. Thank you so much.