Hello! My fiance and I are booking a Peru trip, and I'm trying to figure out which hotels to choose -- I'd appreciate some input!

In Arequipa, I'm looking at: Casa de Avila, Maison del Solar, and La Gruta (Casa de Melgar, unfortunately, doesn't have availability on my dates, which makes me very sad).

In Cusco, I'm looking at: Casona les Pleiades, Hostal Alamena, Andenas al Cielo, and possibly Amaru Hostal (am waiting to hear back from them as to availabilty).

We'd like something in about the $60 price range for Cusco, and about the $30 - $60 price range in Arequipa -- something clean, comfortable, safe, within walking distance of downtown, and hopefully with some charm. Which of the hotels listed above should we choose? Does anyone have any different suggestions?

Thanks for any help!

NinosHotel.com

walkoninn.com

cheap nicein Cusco

bothyhostel.com

best hostel in Arequipa for me

lots of nice stuff around the square

from $20 better to negotiate of price on site.

nuespana.com

cutest little hotel in arequipa for me a bit more.

for Cusco

balconcusco.com

rumipunku.com

most charming a bit of a budget buster.

apulodge.com nice for price in SV

My personal suggestions:

Cusco- Amaru Hostel
Arequipa- La Gruta (look into Las Torres de Ugarte as well)

Have fun!
Laura (Peru For Less)

Hi Laura:

Both La Gruta and Las Torres de Ugarte have availability for the days that we'll be there. Could you tell me why you would choose them over Casa de Avila? We liked the look of La Gruta but thought its location might be kind of out of the way; Las Torres de Ugarte looks like it's more centrally located, but the pictures on its website are kind of dismal.

Thanks for your help!

La Gruta in indeed a little bit out of the way, it is about a 10 minute walk to the center of town from the hotel.

Las Torres de Ugarte has small rooms but some of them have great views of the mountains. If you consider staying there, I’d recommend requesting a room with a nice view on the upper stories. When I stayed there, we switched rooms to have one with the best view. The hotel also has a great rooftop balcony, good breakfasts and great location. The downside is the walls aren’t super thick, so if you have noisy neighbors you might be out of luck.

I recommended these two hotels over Casa de Avila only because I know them better. Casa de Avila also seems like a nice but basic option. I’m pretty sure it would meet all your requirements (clean, comfortable, safe, etc.). I can't vouch for its charm though.

Laura (Peru For Less)

Thanks again for your advice, Laura -- it's really helpful.

Do you (or does anyone else) have an opinion on Posada el Castillo, the Casablanca Hostal, or Hostal Casona Solar?

I don't know the hotels you mentioned but my wifes and I stayed at Los Balcones de Moral y Santa Catalina Arequipa and loved it. We had a balcony room from which we could see the spires in Plaza de Armas a couple of streets away. Great location close to the centre, very helpful staff, and a very spacious room where everything worked! Some of the photos on our blog were taken from the balcony of our room:
http://www.travelpod.com/travel-blog...7320/tpod.html

Should be withing your price range - I think we booked on www.hostelbookers.com.

We stayed at Nueva Espana in Arequipa last month and it seems to fit what you are looking for. We paid $50 per night--it is about a 10 minute walk to the main plaza, has a really pretty courtyard, very nice staff, and the rooms were comfortable. It is not a deluxe place, but I prefer smaller family run type places. It was very clean and very friendly.

In Cuzco, we stayed at Rumi Punku and loved it. it isn't on your list, but you might consider it.

Hi, I am a local in Arequipa Peru, here you will find the best list of hotels in Arequipa.

http://www.hotels-arequipa.com/

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