Modern Comfort in the Inca's capital
Written: Feb 03 '08
|
Product Rating:
|
|
|
Pros: Comfort, breakfast quality, amenities, pleasant staff.
Cons: High end of Cusco pricing, early checkout.
The Bottom Line: You'll enjoy your stay. You can be sure of quiet comfort and American-style amenities. Second-best hotel in a town of many hotels.
|
|
|
| obsoperator's Full Review: Libertador Hotel Cusco |
While no one has reviewed it before, the Libertador is in fact the second-best hotel in Cusco (Cuzco, Q'usco), Peru. You're likely to be put here on a moderate to high-end group tour, as we were by General Tours (a big U.S. tour company) in January, 2008.
The "best" hotel in town, the Orient Express-operated Monasterio, has only 125 rooms, luxuriously hewn from a real monastery. The Libertador seems like an ultra-modern attempt to evoke the older building, with beamed ceilings in the dining rooms, and two square courtyards (of course, without the medieval columns and arcades of the Monasterio.) The Libertador is what travel agents call a "Superior First-Class Hotel", with large rooms, good beds, and full-size tubs with shower doors. There's plenty of hot water, but like the rest of Peru, you can't brush your teeth with the tap water. Each room gets two free 1/2 liter bottles of water each day. Even better, the rooms come with a plug-in "hot pot" that lets you boil unlimited water you can use (after cooling ...) to rinse your toothbrush or for anything else.
We were there at the change of season, the beginning of the rainy season. So it was hot during the day, but they (quite reasonably) turned on the heat at night. As our own preference, we turned off the climate-control unit in the room at night, and opened the window until dawn, when traffic began below our window. Note: It "never" rains in Lima, but it rains a lot in Cusco during the rainy season. Bring the right clothing.
The lobbies and public spaces are spacious; In fact, it's quite a long walk to the reasonably-priced cafe, and the (dinner-only) formal restaurant. Along the way, you'll see both of the glassed-in courtyards (ask for a courtyard room if you can, the street rooms have double-glass but some sound penetrates), and the huge business center, with internet for $5 for your entire stay. Coca Tea is served by a costumed child in the lobby. Our group was seated in a vacant business meeting room where they served us tea while our keys were handed out, with no line at the desk. Very civilized! (We did have to submit our passports, which were promptly returned.)
There's an ATM machine in the lobby, which I used successfully, and an expensive-looking jewelry store, which I avoided. Like in much of Cusco, when you step away from the front door, you will be accosted by children selling postcards and factory-painted watercolors. That's not really the Libertador's fault. Right across the street is one of the most important sights of Cusco, the Temple of the Sun, or "Korikancha", within the Church of Santo Domingo. The Plaza de Armas, the main square, is a ten-minute walk away, on streets that seemed completely safe to us. We made that walk to dinner and back, twice after dark. It's about the same distance to the San Blas artists district. There are lots of Inca walls and small ruins within minutes of the hotel. But from anywhere in Cusco, the famous and massive Sacsaywaman ruins are a long, steep climb up stepped streets. I can't recommend that walk when you're at 11,000 ft. above sea level.
If you're planning this trip, you probably know that Machu Picchu is actually at a lower elevation than Cusco. But since Cusco is the gateway to the Machu Picchu train, and a great place to visit for a few days, you'll start your Acetazolamide/Diamox® pills on the way here, or at take it easy while you get used to the thin air. We took the pills, with no noticeable side effects, but I can't make that decision for you.
I think some of the data in the Epinions boilerplate for the Libertador are out of date. Most of Cusco operates on a 9AM checkout time, 11AM checkin time. That has to do with Peruvian air schedules and Machu Picchu travel practices. For example, the two major coach class trains to Machu Picchu leave Cusco at 6AM and 7AM. So the full buffet breakfast at the Libertador begins before 6AM. It's in a very large room, with a made-to-order omlette station, vast choices of fruits and breads, steam tables with eggs and bacon, and cold cereals and juices. The waiter will bring you coffee, or in keeping with the local preference, "cafe con leche". You may want to stop the very strong coffee pour early, so you get at least half hot milk!
You are very likely to have two stays at the Libertador. Because the trains to Machu Picchu are very crowded, you're advised to pack an overnight bag if you're staying in Aguas Calientes or on the mountain. The Libertador, as a matter of routine, stores your locked big bag while you're gone, and delivers it to your second room, likely before you get there. We had rooms 368 and 268, both roughly over the front door. I'll bet this is noisier in June and July, but it wasn't bad during our January, 2008 stay. Because General Tours booked the rooms, I have no idea what they cost. Travelocity currently lists our rooms for $265 a night. That's expensive for Peru, but not for the quality and comfort of this hotel.
Note that some travellers prefer to stay "out of town", in the Sacred Valley. Cusco is a major "backpacker" transit point to the Inca Trail trek and Machu Picchu, so you can stay here for $30 a night, but not in a real hotel, and not at this level of comfort!
Recommended:
Yes
|
|
|
|
Epinions.com ID:
obsoperator
|
|
Location: Bergen County, NJ, USA
Reviews written: 22
Trusted by: 0 members
|
|
|
- Add to My Yahoo!: 
- Add to Google Homepage: 
© 1999-2009 Shopping.com, Inc.