zanne

Any recommendations between Aranwa Hotel and Casa Andina Private Collection in Cusco and Urubamba. Is it better to stay in Ollanta as opposed to Urubamba for ease or does it matter?

crellston

We stayed in the SV in 2008 for 3 weeks in 2008. We stayed in a friends bungalow just outside of Urumbamba but "commuted" daily to Olly for work. Urumbamba is a nice enough place but, with the exception of a few lux hotels it really is a working town and is not really geared towards tourists. That said, the central market is worth a visit and there are some great local restaurants in the street surrounding the plaza. I suspect most people staying in Uru will mostly stay in their hotels.

Olly on the other hand, is a very picturesque town with much more to see and some great restaurants so it is easy just to wander from your hotel and find a place to eat or just sit in the square to watch the world go by! Olly itself, deserves at least 1/2 , preferably a whole day.

Afew photos of both places

http://www.travelpod.com/travel-blog...5800/tpod.html

qwovadis

www.ollantaytambo.org is a tonne prettier with the fortress
and cobblestone streets.Good personal experience with
casa-andina.com PC there and www.apulodge.com great value there

www.libertador.com.pe Tambo Del Inka

new best now if money is no object...

qwovadis

Train station is at Ollantaytambo to MP

cheapest for me to buy tickets there and way

more convenient.

zanne

Thanks, all.
Looking at the following hotels in Olly for 3 nites:
Hotel Sol
El Alberque
Pakaritampu

Thoughts?

marielgauthier

Hi! If you want to go to Cusco, I rather stay in the hotels you find there, moer safe and affordable in prices, besides of enjoying the colonial charm of the city and a privileged view of Machu Picchu. I had a good experience staying at Cusco, so I will come back there. Here is my recommendation http://en.visitlatin.com/cusco-hotels.htm and Casa Andina is very pleasant. Have a nice trip!

cjacob

Hi Zanne,

I returned 2 weeks ago from a week long visit to the Sacred Valley. Where do you plan on travelling to during the days from Olly or Urubamba? Olly is the furthest point from Cuzco and the other places to visit, but Urubamba is only about 25 minutes closer.

When we landed in Cuzco, we went straight to the Hotel Rio Sagrado in Urubumba for 2 nights. There is no real town in Urubumba, but the hotels are more "resorty". At least that was the impression I got. We wanted a more resort feel the first 2 days as we planned to spend the 1st day of our trip solely at the hotel, getting adjusted to the altitude and sleeping off our overnight flight. The second day we were picked up and went to Moray/Maras and the Salineras. They were only about 20-30 minutes from Urumbamba so it wasn't too long of a drive at all.

Days 3 and 4 we went to the El Albergue in Olly. The hotel is literally on the train tracks, they aren't kidding when they say this! Great for a 6:45am train to MP but it is a little bit of a walk to the main square and restaurants. The hotel was nice, clean, big rooms, I would just say the location may not be the most ideal, but that varies based on your needs. Also, you hear the trains in the station, they don't run all night, but you definitely hear them in the early morning and late at night.

Hope this helps! Can't comment on any of the other hotels that you mentioned.

lcuy

We stayed at Pakaritampu for 3 nights in May. It is a really pleasant hotel, with beautiful flowers and some llamas that wander the grounds. There is a restaurant, bar, "living room" with fireplace in one building. another contains the lobby, gift shop, free computers. The other 3 buildings have the guestrooms, which are nice. Ours had 2 beds, a table with chairs, TV, Dressing area, and modern bathroom with a deep tub. It was a very quiet place and we were very happy staying there. It is about a 5 minute walk up to the Main Plaza, and a 2 minute walk back down! The train station is about 2 minutes down the hill from there.

I don't think that Urubamba would be a bad choice, and the resorts cjacobs writes about did look very nice from the outside. It was a bit closer to all the sights; not significantly closer, but at the end of a long day we'd pass Urubamba, then still have another 10-15 minute drive so it looked nice. The town is a lot bigger and more spread out, but also had some nice "artsy" type shopping.

Ollantaytambo had more of a village feel to it, and was nice and compact with the ruins sitting above everything.

zanne

Thanks for all your replies. Initially I was going to stay in Urubamba but when I saw I needed to get to Olly for train to MP early with luggage, I decided it would be a lot simpler to stay in Olly. So now I'm looking for hotels in Olly for 3 nites and use that as home base for the Valley until we head to Cuzco for the end of our trip.

mlgb

For using the early train to MP, El Albergue has a distinct advantage of being on the platform. It was so nice to just step from the breakfast room to the boarding area. I liked the hotel, the rooms are probably a bit simpler than Pakaritampu (I had only the standard room in the courtyard, and I'm not sure if that's still in service. Other rooms were supposedly nicer). The restaurant there is quite good, especially the alpaca loin. They also have a nice little library of guide books, and provide water in bulk for refilling bottles, a nice eco-touch. It isn't far from the train station to either Pakaritampu or Sauce. Apu Lodge I understand is up in the old Inca Town? and doesn't have vehicle access.