Notes About my 5 Trips in Peru in 2003-2008

Before I got to Lima, I didn't think I would stay there very long because people told me it was crowded and dirty. I liked it so much that I stayed for three weeks! Yes, it's congested, but it didn't seem to bother me. It's really an exciting place to be. See the main plaza downtown; it's beautiful. There are little buses that circle the plaza and offer a tour to the top of the nearby mini-mountain with the illuminated cross. It was only 5 soles (less than 2.00US) for the 1.5-hour tour and worth it. I love the architecture of the old buildings in Lima. Enjoy them now because they are quickly being torn down to build modern condos.

Quick Tips:

You will have to have a "wall" around you most of the time. Taxi drivers honk constantly, whether it's because someone is in the way, or because they are trying to attract your attention as a potential customer. Don't even glance at what vendors are selling on the street, or they will march right up to you and start telling you about the benefits of their merchandise. It's kind of funny to watch, but it can get tiresome after a while. The Peruvians (especially anyone involved in sales) tend to be more aggressive than other Latins. Whenever you go to hotels anywhere in Peru, don't accept the first price they give you. Just balking a little without saying anything will cause them to lower the price (especially outside of Lima). Just use your own bargaining technique and you will be surprised at how the price will drop. Desk clerks have apparently been given permission to lower the prices if the customer doesn't jump at the first price, something that would almost never happen in the USA. For withdrawing money from an ATM machine, try to use BCP, BIF, and ScotiaBank ATM machines, as they don't add any surcharge for withdrawing Soles, and neither does Banco de Comercio. Interbank (Cajero Global Net) charges US for withdrawing dollars and 4.5 soles for withdrawing local money. Banco Continental charges about US for every withdrawal. You can withdraw money in US dollars or in Peruvian Soles. In the airport arrivals area, the only ATM machines I saw were the yellow Interbank machines, so you may have to pay a little for your first withdrawal at the airport, but the rest of the time you can avoid the charges. To wash your clothing, the best place I found is on Alcanfores between Schell and Cantuarias. They only charge 3 Soles per kilo for wash, dry and fold service. Your clothing is ready the next day after 11 a.m.

Best Way To Get Around:

The small buses cost 1 sol per ride. They are not easy to use by a tourist because there is no official map of where they go. You have to ask someone which one to take if you want to use them. Taxis do not use meters and you have to negotiate with them. As soon as they hear an accent, the price goes up. My Peruvian friends were always getting a lower price than I would when taking a taxi. I finally learned some routes of the buses and then I took them whenever possible. There is no metro system, but it's desperately needed. Those buses get you around pretty fast though. As a pedestrian, be super careful because there is no right of way for you at all. Cars will avoid you when they can, but drivers there don't expect someone to just walk out in front of them. Step lively when crossing the street. I walked a lot too... this city is right next to the ocean, and I frequently walked along the cliffs at the beach to enjoy the view.

I didn't stay here, but looked at several rooms. I found the place on the internet. In Dec 2003, the price was 60 soles per night. This hotel is older and hasn't been remodeled, although the rooms were clean. Hotel Mundanos is a much better choice, especially since the prices are about the same. Internal rooms are quiet, but have poor ventilation. The front desk staff was friendly. Rooms are carpeted and have phone and TV. It's a better choice than other budget places I looked at (except for Mundanos!).

Because of mixed feelings from staying here, I mildly recommend this place. I was there for 3 nights, first in room 701B and then in room 308. The right side of the building is better, since rooms are fairly well-shielded from street noise, although horns are just about impossible to completely avoid in Lima. This hotel is on a two-block street, so it's quiet, considering the location. Rooms on the left side of the building will have a view of a parking lot that will produce horns, car alarms, diesel engines cranking, etc. Small rooms start at only 50 soles (about $15.50) and go all the way up to Jacuzzi suites for 145 soles. The rooms are pretty and have nice mattresses, fan, 20" color TV with remote, and more than 50 cable channels, including one adult channel. There is a rooftop dining room that is used for breakfast only; it's 10 soles for the meal, and you must inform the front desk the night before if you want the breakfast for the following morning. Serving hours are 7am to 10am. Don’t take room 701B, or you will be right below this dining area; it's cleaned at 1am, and guests start arriving at 7am, so you won't be able to sleep well.

I would give this place a better recommendation, but the service was lukewarm at best. In most of Latin America, young people live with their families until they marry. Since they don't have privacy at home, they usually go to a hotel for privacy. Maria Luisa seems to cater more to these couples than to typical travelers, and it is reflected in the lack of service. By the way, the rooms come with double or queen beds—no singles—so if traveling with a friend, you'll have to share a bed. While the staff was never outright unfriendly, they were disinterested in providing any service beyond the basic. They do not have an iron for guests to use, which is fairly basic, even in cheaper places I stayed at in Lima. I was asked to pay in advance for my first night, which I never encountered elsewhere in Peru. When my friends came to visit, they had to leave their ID at the front desk while in my room. There seems to be a level of distrust by the staff towards guests. The doorman and porter were nicer than the girls that work at the front desk. In other hotels in Lima (notably Mundanos and Casa de Baraybar), there was always an eagerness to please that doesn't exist here. The location can't be beat; you're only a couple of blocks from the action in Miraflores, but it's quiet. Even though it was cheaper, I decided to leave after 3 days and stay at Mundanos.

Only $15US per night for a single room with private bath and hot water. What a great deal! Quietest rooms are in the back (I had room 18). Very attractive Colonial-style building that's only a block from the main square in Pisco. The only complaint I have is that the pillows are very, very thick and very hard; so hard in fact that I removed the pillow from the pillowcase and inserted my rolled up sweatshirt. There are lots of restaurants nearby (see my review on Az de Oro), but they will try to get you to eat in the hotel.

Free Internet computer in the lobby. They will try to get you to book tours through them; I didn't find cheaper prices out on the street, so you may as well let them get their commission. Peter, the tour operator that works with them, arranged for a private guide with car to tour the Paracas Reserve for only $20US for five hours. If you end up not liking it here for some reason, don't worry, there are at least 20 small hotels within walking distance to choose from.

This hotel was probably the most annoying place I ever stayed while visiting Peru. I arrived in the afternoon and carefully chose a room that I thought would be quiet. This hotel has outside corridors that pass right by your window. Because of the thin windows and window frames, you can hear every tiny noise outside. The maids come by early in the morning without checking with reception to see if the room is occupied. There are flimsy "doors" cut in the walls between the rooms so that you can have an adjoining suite, through which noise easily passes. Around 10:30pm, a nearby disco starts up, and the music plays until about 2:30am on weeknights. Take earplugs and sleeping pills with you if you stay here.

They have a free breakfast buffet every day. Also, a full-service spa is on the premises, which you can use for free if you are a guest. Massages cost 40 soles for 40 minutes. You can pay with a credit card at no additional charge.

If you are used to sleeping in a quiet environment, I recommend the Hotel Huarango, which is about 10 minutes away by taxi.

The hotel looks OK from the outside, but the rooms are just pathetic. The floors are covered in worn industrial carpeting. The walls haven't been painted in a very long time. The bathroom tile has had a very hard life and I wonder how it could have so many cracks. The smell of sewer gas seemed to be coming from the sink drain, and found its way into the room even with the bathroom door closed. The room has a 12 inch color TV with international cable channels. There's no phone in the room, so to ask a question, you have to go back downstairs (up to 4 flights with no elevator). The beds were about as firm as I've ever encountered. The sheets are lemon yellow and 100 percent polyester. I was sweating all night because my skin couldn't breathe while laying in the bed. The pillows were thick and hard. There's not even a fan in the room to help cool off; don't even ask about air conditioning. I only slept about 4 hours at most.

The staff seemed indifferent. I can't believe that they charge $30 for a single room in this place. I stayed in Lima for a week, but checked out after the first night and went hotel shopping the next morning. They do have free luggage storage, so that made it much easier.

The only positive thing I could say about this place is that there was plenty of hot water when I showered.

I walked past a couple of other rooms while I was leaving to see if they were similar to mine, and they were. I think they took the photos for the web site when the hotel was brand new. The rooms don't look like that now.

The only thing that I can figure is that this place must be listed in one of those travel books meant for budget travelers. Why else would it be filled with young Americans and Europeans? There are plenty of budget hotels in Lima that are nicer than this one. A few possibilities would be Farolito on 2 de Mayo, Tambo on Av. La Paz, Tinkus on Av. La Paz. For the same price, and possibly less, you would get an attractive room in the same neighborhood. I can't think of any circumstance where I would stay here again.

The web site of this place looks nice, but the rooms don't look as nice in person. The bed was kind of lumpy, but passable. The location is convenient, but it's on a busy street with lots of horn honking that starts early in the morning. You won't be able to sleep late here. The hot water kind of comes and goes in the shower but never seemed to run out completely. The biggest problem here was the bedbugs. On my second day there, I noticed bites around my waist. Since mosquitoes don't usually bite there, I pulled the sheets back and searched the seams and ticking of the mattress, and found about 5 bedbugs. It was still before noon, so I notified the front desk about the bedbugs and told them I was checking out shortly. I put the clothing I had been wearing in a plastic bag and kept it away from my suitcase since I didn't want to carry any pests back home. The bedbugs were the worst thing about this place, but I wouldn't stay there again anyway because it just isn't that nice of a place, plus it was too noisy.

Imagine yourself arriving in Lima, Peru around midnight. You take a taxi to the hotel you reserved, and they don't have a room for you. They don't offer any assistance in finding something else for you. You're simply out of luck and on your own. That's what happened to me at this place. I called that very afternoon and confirmed the reservation and they said everything was fine. I ended up flagging down a passing taxi who had a stack of hotel brochures in the car, so we had to go to a phone booth and call hotels to find one with a room available on that Saturday night. After 7 calls we finally found something and I stayed the night there. That place wasn't very nice, but at least I had something. Take your chances if you'd like, but I obviously wouldn't even think of staying here.

I have written dozens of reviews on Trip Advisor, and almost never given a one star rating to something, but this place really deserves it. The hotel looks OK from the outside, but the rooms are just pathetic. The floors are covered in worn industrial carpeting. The walls haven't been painted in a very long time. The bathroom tile has had a very hard life and I wonder how it could have so many cracks. The smell of sewer gas seemed to be coming from the sink drain, and found its way into the room even with the bathroom door closed. The room has a 12 inch color TV with international cable channels. There's no phone in the room, so to ask a question, you have to go back downstairs (up to 4 flights with no elevator). The beds were about as firm as I've ever encountered. The sheets are lemon yellow and 100 percent polyester. I was sweating all night because my skin couldn't breathe while laying in the bed. The pillows were thick and hard. There's not even a fan in the room to help cool off; don't even ask about air conditioning. I only slept about 4 hours at most.

The staff seemed indifferent. I can't believe that they charge $30 for a single room in this place. I stayed in Lima for a week, but checked out after the first night and went hotel shopping the next morning. They do have free luggage storage, so that made it much easier.

The only positive thing I could say about this place is that there was plenty of hot water when I showered.

I walked past a couple of other rooms while I was leaving to see if they were similar to mine, and they were. I think they took the photos for the web site when the hotel was brand new. The rooms don't look like that now.

The only thing that I can figure is that this place must be listed in one of those travel books meant for budget travelers. Why else would it be filled with young Americans and Europeans? There are plenty of budget hotels in Lima that are nicer than this one. A few possibilities would be Farolito on 2 de Mayo, Tambo on Av. La Paz, Tinkus on Av. La Paz. For the same price, and possibly less, you would get an attractive room in the same neighborhood. I can't think of any circumstance where I would stay here again.

I've stayed in a lot of hotels in Lima, and this one seems to charge too much for what you get, compared to other places. In October 2007, it's $35 for a single room, and for that amount or less you can get better. The location is pretty good as you can walk to the Miraflores area, and it's pretty quiet here (constant horn honking is a problem in Lima). But the rooms are very small, and there's only a small ventilation shaft that provides light and air in the room. The rooms had been recently painted and looked nice, but it's just too much money. If possible, check out the rooms before you book and pay.

This was my favorite of the vegetarian restaurants I tried while in Lima. I'm not a vegetarian, but I like to eat lots of veggies, so I tried to eat one meal per day as a vegan. Anyway, in March 2005 the fixed price lunch was 7.9 soles (approx. US$2.35). This included either a bowl of soup or a salad, then the main plate, which usually had three items on it, a small dessert, small yogurt, and a fruity drink. The food at this one seemed higher quality and more inspired than the other veggie places. The only drawback is that it's on a busy street. Happy dining!

There seems to be a Govinda in every Latin American city. This one was pretty good and even non-vegans should eat here to get a healthy meal. There's a set meal every day for between 6 and 9 soles, plus a large veggie menu if you don't like the menu of the day. I got the set meal every day since it was a great value. Their flyer says it's open Mon to Sat from 11am to 8pm and Sunday 10aa-8pm, but the price was higher on Sunday. There’s a nice outdoor patio or you can eat indoors, too. I preferred the food at Angelito Verde, but this was a good second choice.

I am not a vegetarian, but meals in regular restaurants in Peru will include very few (if any) vegetables, other than potatoes. I usually ate veggie at lunch, and then at a regular restaurant for dinner.

The owner is a former employee of Bircher Benner restaurant (an excellent but expensive vegetarian restaurant in Lima). For 8 soles (a little over $2US) you get an emoliente drink, a first course (usually a salad or soup), and the main plate and small dessert. You also get a plain, drinkable yogurt (add anise syrup from the pitcher on your table to add a flavor).

This was probably my favorite veggie restaurant in Lima and I went there most days. Every meal I had there was good. You can also order from the menu, but the set meal was a great value. Open daily 9am to 8pm. Closed Sundays; open limited hours on holidays.

On the corner of Oscar Benavides and San Ramon (San Ramon is more commonly referred to as "Calle de las Pizzas"), it's 9 soles for a grilled boneless, skinless chicken breast with a mound of french fries and a green salad. It's probably the best value of the pizza places on this street, right on the park. Tall, lovely waitresses provide decent service. Pizzas are also good, but pasta dishes are iffy; they seem to be prepared ahead of time, refrigerated, then heated up in the microwave. The lasagna I ordered one night was hot around the edges but cold in the middle.

This upscale seafood restaurant is only a few blocks west of Larcomar shopping center. They're open only for lunch and closed Sunday. There's very good food here; you can't go wrong with anything you order. The menu is wonderful and includes full-color photos of many of the dishes. You can try ceviche here without worry. The prices are high for Lima, but the cleanliness and decor make it worth it. Most entrees are about 20-25 soles (about $6.25 to $7.80 U.S.).

You probably won’t see a single tourist here, but it’s only a 20 minute walk or a 5 minute taxi ride from the park in Miraflores. A pretty place, with a varied menu, and excellent food. You can eat the salads here without fear, as their kitchen preps veggies properly. My favorite meal is the Emiliana Salad (comes with lettuce, shredded chicken, pecans, raisins, real bacon bits, and celery among other things) which costs 8.5 Soles (less than $3). Add a jugo surtido (mixed fruit juice drink) and you have a delicious healthy meal. It is open until 11 at night, and has both indoor and outdoor seating. With the upscale appearance of the place, and the upscale customers, you’d expect the prices to be much higher. When you get tired of potatoes and white rice, this is a great place to come for international fare. Nearest cross street is 28 de Julio. See your tourist map, or a taxi will take you for no more than 5 soles.

If you are staying at a hotel in Pisco or Ica, you will be offered tours of the Paracas National Reserve. It's an impressive National Park, filled with giant sand dunes in an area right next to the Pacific Ocean. The tour operators generally pick you up about 7am, and first take you on a boat trip to a small island that is a bird sanctuary. Then after that, they take you to Paracas.

I didn't want to get up that early, so I arranged with the tour operator (affiliated with my hotel, the Posada Hispana) to get a private guide. I only had to pay him $20US, and I had him for 5 hours. He took me from my hotel and gave me the complete tour of the reserve, pointing out all the interesting facts along the way. Also, we hiked down to the beach; the group tours only look at the beach from a lookout point.

I really recommend going here to see these giant sand dunes. At some point, you'll be taken to an area with five restaurants (the only on the reserve property). You don't have to go to the one your guide recommends. Check out the menus at each one and then decide. Tia Pily is the one farthest out on the point; the prices were slightly more reasonable, although all were pricey for Peru. You're paying for the location, not the food, which is okay but nothing spectacular. Typical plates are 25 soles, which buys you a near-luxury meal in Lima.

This guy was mentioned in Lonely Planet as a good tour guide, and they were right. He apparently has studied everything about Peru and it shows. I recommend using a private guide rather than taking one of those organized tours because it's just a much nicer experience. With those big groups, you can spend an hour just picking up all the tourists at their different hotels before the tour actually starts. With your own guide, you see exactly what you want to see and spend as much time at the different sights as you want. It actually ends up costing about the same. Anyway, his name is Tino Guzman and you can e-mail him at tinogk@hotmail.com to get current details and to see if he's available the dates you'll need him (he also works as a professional tour guide at a big tour operator in Peru). He told me he will travel all over Peru with tourists, or can do just simple tours in Lima. Even though he didn't travel with me to other cities, he gave me a lot of tips for hotels and the best sights to see in other cities in Peru. As of April 2008 he said he charges between US$12-15 per hour and if you're traveling with friends, up to four people can be in the tour group so you can split the cost. He said he will also do airport pickups (which I didn't need), but if your hotel isn't picking you up, that's a nice service to have since the airport at Lima can be a bit crazy at times. He speaks English, French, Chinese, and is also gay-friendly. Warmly recommended.