The first night we were traveling with another girl, and the hotel didn't have her reservation. So we had to wait one hour while the staff tried to find us a triple room. I didn't mind the wait, as it allowed us to mingle with the other guests and people watch. Time flew when I struck up a conversation with a couple who had just returned from hiking the Inca Trail.

We were led down a garden corridor between two buildings and entered our triple room from outside. The room was large, had three single beds, a couch and a decent bathroom. Sandwiched between the buildings, the triple room was much quieter than our double room subsequent nights.

Our double room was located upstairs on the second floor, and overlooked the busy street, Avenida Comandante Espinar. Traffic noise was a bit of a problem all night long. Even earplugs barely diminished the constant honking of taxis, cars and trucks. It woke me up by 6am each morning. My brother, who can sleep through an earthquake, wasn't bothered by the street noise.

I liked the arched doorways and iron windows. There was a small televison in the room and distilled water in a common area down the hall. Bathrooms had showers, although the water wasn't real warm.

On the main floor, there was a decent restaurant which extended outside. The patio was a nice place to sit in the afternoon, have a drink and people watch. We ate breakfast here each morning–one of the few places you could order eggs, something other than the traditional, tiresome pan (bread). Our last morning, they noticed we hadn't been down for breakfast by 9:45am and called me. Would I like breakfast in the room? Okay...so they brought me pan (two hard rolls), orange marmalade, thick papaya juice and café. Chris was surprised when I woke him up holding a breakfast tray, as he hadn't even heard the phone ring!

Down the street a few blocks was a bank where we exchanged money. No casual stroll. We felt nervous and edgy knowing we were being watched by men on the streets–three blondes in Peru.

Nine blocks away was a great Artesian Indian Market. My brother freaked out when a friend and I decided to walk there after the bank. So he stayed behind while we went...admittedly it was somewhat spooky. And didn't become any less frightening the three other times we went.

Staff at the front desk were friendly and helpful. They provided advice about how much we should pay taxis, gave us directions, and told us to keep a hotel business card in our pockets whenever we left. They also arranged a city tour bus for us which picked us up a block away.