When travelling through Peru, there are several key areas that you need to hit- the bustling capital city of Lima, Cusco, which is known as the gateway to Machu Picchu and the stunning historic city of Arequipa. Arequipa is located between the desert oasis of Huacachina and the infamous Cusco, and is often viewed as a stop to break up the long journey between the two destinations. However, it is worth so much more than that! Arequipa is a stunning historic city with a whole host of spots to explore- and very much deserves a place of honour on your tour of Peru!
I will put together a whole different blog post on the best things to see in the city, but this is all about the best place to stay! Arequipa is amazing because practically everything you want to see is within walking distance of each other- the furthest we went was about a 20 minute walk, and this was to reach a view point over the city. Therefore, you want to make the most of this and make sure you are staying right in the city centre. I would highly recommend staying at the Hotel Casa Andina.
Casa Andina is a chain of hotels across South America, with destinations in Arequipa, Colca, Cusco, Lima and way more. In each city, there are often different types of hotels to be accessible to all budgets, ranging from Standard to Select to Premium. I stayed in the Select hotel and had the absolute best stay!
Here are the best bits and why you should pick Casa Andina as the base for your next Arequipa trip!
1. The Location
Like I said, location is key in Arequipa. You definetly want to make sure you are in the middle of the action and Casa Andina Select really ticks that box. The hotel is located right on the Plaza De Armas which is the bustling main hub of the city. You are 3 minutes walk away from the Museo Santuarios Andinos, 6 minutes walk from the Santa Catalina Monastery and 5 minutes walk from the beautiful neighbours of San Lozaro and Yanahuara. Despite its prime position, the hotel was very quiet and I was never woken by noise during the night.
2. The Rooms - Ultimate Comfort
I was so impressed by how comfortable the rooms are at Casa Andina Select! I stayed in a double room which had two roomy double beds, a workspace with a desk, a TV, fridge, wardrobe, kettle and tea and coffee options. This isn’t even mentioning the en suite bathroom, which was beautifully modern with a blissfully powerful shower. There was also lovely extra touches such as little bottles of body wash, shampoo and conditioner.
3. The Restaurant
The restaurant was absolutely glorious! There was either the option top eat inside or you could choose to eat out on a balcony which overlooked the famous Plaza De Armas. This was also the most amazing place to watch the sun go down. We would come to the balcony every morning for breakfast- which was buffet style. The choices available for breakfast were endless: there were continental options like freshly squeezed juice, fruit, different sweet breads, hams and cheeses. As well as this, there was hot options such as eggs, potatoes and pancakes. Eating breakfast on the balcony while watching the square below become slowly more crowded as the city woke up was one of my favourite parts of the stay.
We also headed to the rooftop for sunset cocktails. I would highly recommend the Pisco Sours here- best I’ve had in Peru! We then stayed and had a full meal and desert which was so delicious. The staff were absolutely wonderful and very attention, the meals portion sizes were huge and definitely felt like value for money- and the brownie for desert was divine. I also felt that everything was very reasonablly priced given its prime position overlooking the square.
4. The ‘C- Word’
We are obviously living in the time of Covid and it can be worrying when visiting a new hotel about how ‘Covid safe’ the area will be. I found that Casa Andina did an amazing job with this. Everything was super clean and had clearly been disinfected. Everyone wore masks within the hotel and there were numerous hand sanitiser stations dotted throughout the hotel. This put any worries I had totally as ease!
5. Familiarity
When travelling, it can be tiring always trying to find new accommodation and always worrying what standard it will be. I love that Casa Andina is a chain as I know now when arriving into a new city that I can rely on Casa Andina to be a comfortable and luxurious stay.
From the tone of this blog, I am pretty sure you’re already picked up that I love this hotel! It was the perfect base to explore my new favourite city in Peru and I genuinely couldn’t have asked for anything more.
I really hope you enjoyed this blog and I am more than happy to answer any other questions about the hotel over on my Instagram @shedot.travels. Just drop me a DM and we can chat. Let me know how your next Casa Andina stay goes as well!
Saz Xxx