Used: 2011
Since I arrived into Lima a day before my Gap tour was to begin at La Castellana Hotel, I just booked an extra night at this place as it seemed okay. And for the most part, it was a nice place to start my trip. The hotel is located in the trendy Miraflores area, in an old hacienda style house and is very old fashion with a courtyard in the middle.
There is a 24hour supermarket around the corner and when I asked the very nice and English speaking front desk if it was safe to go out after dark in the area on my first night, they looked at me like I was crazy. Of course it was safe! But I still ran the two blocks there, grabbed what would be the cheapest bottle of water I would find on my travels (s/1.45 for 2.5ltrs!) and ran back. Hey, it was my first night and I had no idea of anything yet.
My least favorite parts – when I started not feeling well on my second night and just wanted to keep warm and bundled up, I asked about heaters and they did not provide them. Breakfast kind of sucked before I realized that that is how it was all over the country. The rooms were pretty dark, not enough lights. And what would be the worst part and the worst welcome to Peru – the shower. Apparently, every room was different and while mine was really quiet (and others were loud), my shower was total total shit and others had it okay. It was hot, I’ll give it that, but the pressure, it was just a trickle and one of the worst that I had ever seen in my life. I had heard bad things about the showers in Peru, so my hopes were not high about the showers going forward, but I’ll say right now that this was the worst shower I had in Peru.
My favorite parts – Like I said before, very quiet. Beds were warm and comfortable (though a heater would have helped). And what would be a trend for the rest of my time in Peru, is kick ass TV. Seriously, TV in Peru was awesome. Full on cable at every place I stayed and pretty much everything is in English with Spanish subtitles (my favorite!!) though it was weird what was in Spanish and what wasn’t.
Moral: Not the best, but not the worst. A good place to start my trip and for the most part, no complaints. I grabbed a price chart on my way out because I hadn’t booked a place to stay for my last few days at the end of my trip but when seeing how much it cost for what I got, I decided against staying here again and ended up in another part of town. Since it wasn’t great, I don’t know if I would stay here again, given the chance. I would rather take my chances on somewhere else then a repeat visit.
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[...] The La Castellana hotel [link] is located in a area of Lima called Miraflores, which is the more posh area of town. After getting a late start on my first day, I walked down to the Central Park of Miraflores and just walked around, stretching my legs after a day on an airplane. I saw a Starbucks, which of course is of no surprise, but right next door was a Pinkberry! Seeing that familer sign was a total shock to me! Do they even have them outside Los Angeles? It seems like such a Los Angeles chain to me! If these two aren’t a sign about how posh the neighborhood is, I don’t know what is. I wondered in and out of a department store at the edge of the park, which I always find interesting, seeing the prices and variety and labels on products. Pinkberry and Starbucks, next to each other in Miraflores, Lima, Peru [...]
[...] of the big reasons for staying in central Lima for my last few nights in Peru was that I just didn’t love where I stayed when I arrived. And I like mixing it up if I can. I flipped through my guide book and found a reasonably priced [...]
[...] of hot water (though the pressure could have used some work, but it still wasn’t as bad as the first place I stayed in in Lima) and was also [...]