moosey

Hi - We are finalizing an itinerary in Peru in June and our travel agent is running into lots of problems with hotel rooms. We haven't tried all of these ourselves as most have limited websites (need to request and they will email you back, and I didn't want to confuse matters if our agent is already "holding" rooms in our name) and limited English skills by phone.

Anyway, we are traveling with our son (age 9) so there will be three of us. It seems this is quite unusual where we are going and we need to get a "suite for 3" (not sure if this is a fancy way of saying "room" or if it really is a suite?)

Is this common or does something not sound right? I honestly think in some cases we might be better off with two rooms if the "suite" is so pricey. And I don't get why we can't put 3 in a normal room, although a lot give you the option of one double or two twins, so maybe everything is just really small..

Our hotels are:

Lima - Ramada at the airport (sounds gross but we arrive at 11pm and leave at 9:45 am the next day - it does not seem like there are any better options within say 15 min taxi ride?)
Urubamba Valley - Hotel Sol y Luna (this seems to be a standard room)
Machu Picchu - Sanctuary Lodge (please say this place is worth it - the fee for the rollaway bed is what I would pay for an entire hotel room!)
Ollantaytambo - Casa Cartagena
Puno - Casa Andina Private Collection

Any thoughts appreciated. Thanks!

qwovadis

Congrats on your trip. Yours are all ok many not great for price. www.casa-andina.com private collection best my fav is fine everywhere usually at best price points. Ramada is your only upscale option at the Airport hmanahattan.com cheapo not far all others are in Mirafloresperu.com Radisson Decapolis my fav for price. Sanctuary Lodge is overpriced rip but only one AT MP. Prefer inkaterra.com there for upscale. "Family" rooms are cheap and fine you do not need "suites". www.directrooms.com www.peru-explorer.com www.agoda.com good comp sites for best prices on hotels. In Cusco upscale I usually stay at Palacio del Inka right at the square from $200 www.libertador.com.pe VERY nice for price built on the palace ruins right at the Plaza.BUT all of yours are ok as long as money is no object.

PM if needed always happy to help trip cover always wise.

Happy Trails!

mlgb

Triple rooms are not all that unusual. Perhaps you need to go down a notch in accommodation level.

I think the problem is more that you are traveling in high season to Cusco.

mlgb

I think alterEgo is just trying to get you to click his link.

You do need to book ahead for the SV and Cusco in June. It often takes a few days for email responses and often a but they may not respond at all if they are busy and/or full. One option is to ask the agent to make a phone call. I'm guessing you're agent is not Peruvian or else they would do that.

Eschew

Sanctuary Lodge is right at the Machu Picchu site and is the most expensive option. If you stay at te town site, plenty of decent hotel and cheaper rate, but then you will have to bus up to the site in the morning. There really isn't anything comparabl to the Sanctuary as it is the only game in town.

We stayed at the Sumaq hotel which was really nice. We had a balcony room facing the river (creek?) and the food is great in the Dining Room. You can also walk aeround town and have more options of things to do at night.

We also stayed at the Casa Andina Private Collection throughout our stay in Peru (4 different ones), except for Puno. The knock on that particular hotel is right on the main road and if your room faces the street, you have noise, and limited or no view. If you are facing the lake, it is better. We stayed at the Libertador Hotel Lago Titicaca instead, which is sort of on an island.

moosey

Thanks everyone. We'll try some of those mentioned as I think most of our rooms are refundable. Appreciate the help!

lcuy

Why do you think the Ramada will be gross? We stayed their twice, and were quite satisfied both times. Large, clean and quiet room. decent breakfast, and very helpful staff. Yes it is expensive, but it was a great option to avoid go into the city at midnight.

We stayed at Sumac in AC. I was glad we hadn't chosen Sanctuary. Once you get there, there is nothing but the hotel. If you are in town, you can go walking around. Sumac staff stood in the bus line for us, and traded seats when the bus stopped at the front door of the hotel. The bus up the mountain is only about 20 minutes, so it isn't like you have to get up hours earlier to beat the Sanctuary crowd!

holydaymaker

Hey, i think you've made a great choice about the hostels and places to stay, actually as someone said to you maybe the greatest problem is that you're going there in the "wrong" season. I didn't know that now they were so full, but maybe is that. Why don't you try to find some hotels without your agents help? Maybe it's easier... and actually i've been in a lot of places around the world that they just put one extra bed for you to sleep with your son... wait that you can resolve this! And please enjoy Peru, such a great place with Inca constructions and other great spots.

mlgb

Casa Cartagena? Is that really in Ollantaytambo?

It didn't ring a bell and some quick searching shows it is in Cusco.

If you wanted to stay in Ollantaytambo generally the highest-end hotel is considered to be Pakaritampu.

moosey

Thanks mlgb - sloppy reading on my part. We are staying at Casa Cartagena in Cusco.

Wanda1

We stayed at the Machu Pichu Pueblo Hotel in Aguas Calientes our first night. It's expensive, but it was INCREDIBLE! I got a private tour of the orchids in the Cloud Forest. The grounds are magnificent. I wish I could have spent more time there. The next night we stayed @ the Sanctuary Lodge. I stayed there, because I thought someone had told me if we stayed there we could stay one more hour by ourselves @ the park. Not the case, but I loved being able to get in line @ 5 a.m. to be one of the first 100 to enter the park LOL. The room was ok, the service was great, food was good, definitely not worth the price, but I'm so glad I stayed there. It was a treat for our 30th wedding anniversary so what the heck! the Inkaterra Machu Picho Puebl Hotel was beautiful. I would have stayed 2 nights there and one night at the Sanctuary, if I could afford it. We spent 3 days in Machu Pichu. I didn't travel that far to just see the park for a few hours one day! It was AMAZING. I will go again. God willing.

mlgb

In Peru rooms are sold by the number of people in the room, ie single, double (2 people), triple (3 people), etc. A double can be either two beds or a "matrimonial" bed. Often a "single" gets a room with two or even three beds but at the single price. Much better than in the US when you pay a room price whether it is one or two people!