Author's product rating: 
| Advantages: |
Clean and adequate |
| Disadvantages: |
Forgettable, in a business district, frequent power cuts |
| Recommend to potential buyers: |
yes |
The Posada del Inca is a medium sized 4* hotel located in a deathly quiet upper class residential street in the business district of San Isidro, one of Lima's finest neighbourhoods. Surrounded by some of the most expensive real estate in the Peruvian capital, the hotel is in walking distance of the ultra-fashionable beach-side neighbouring suburb of Miraflores, and within a car ride of the decaying splendour of the colonial old town. The international airport is a 25 minute drive away, most easily undertaken in a taxi to avoid multiple bus changes. I stayed here for two nights in January 2006, on a bed and breakfast basis.
FACILITIES
On entering the
hotel, guests are greeted by a marble decored reception area located in the centre of an unremarkable glass-fronted open plan lobby. To the left was a plain multi-purpose restaurant, and to the right a small lounge area. The décor throughout the hotel is appealing, with a colour scheme based on traditional Inca earth tones, and original local style paintings of Andean scenes bedeck the walls. The receptionist greeted us pleasantly and efficiently, and was helpful through out our stay, furnishing us with maps and assisting with directions. However, this personal service lacked a certain warmth that is such a natural part of Peruvian manner, and was so evident in other hotels in which I stayed. The atmosphere of the Posada was slightly foreboding, and could never be described as a hive of excitement.
The small, yet adequate seating area was separated from the reception by some glass fronted displays of pottery, jewellery and knitwear from local shops - something I am not too keen on in general in a hotel, as it lends a very commercial feel to a place which, ostensibly at least, becomes your home for a few nights. The lounge itself had four tables surrounded by leather armchairs, with a few remnants of local Spanish language newspapers scattered around for general consumption. A minute bar cowered in the corner offering a limited supply of drinks for extortionate prices - two local beers and a (Peruvian) brandy and coke totalled an unprecedented US$15 (£4.50), in a city where that price could buy three people dinner in a nice restaurant. A better option is the fridge next to the lifts which vends cool drinks and bottled water.
ROOMS
The traditional décor extended to the rooms, which appeared to have been recently refurbished and were spotlessly clean - for the first day anyway. Unusually for a city hotel, the room was enormous - I estimated 14m by 8m - with three well spaced apart king sized beds. The attractive locally woven blankets pleasantly matched the other soft furnishings. For recreation, there was a small table, two chairs, a television with 85 channels (South Americans certainly like their TV!), and ample light with reading fixtures above each bed. For storage there were several robust clear surfaces, two suitcase stands, a chest of drawers, two bedside tables and a large wardrobe containing the room safe. Extra amenities included a full length mirror (a rarity in so many hotels), a functioning air conditioning unit, and a grossly overpriced laundry service (US$1.20 per underpant) is available on request. The only downsides were not having an alarm clock, although a wake-up call was available, and child unfriendly windows, which opened widely allowing a long plummet to pavement level.
The bathroom, with bath and integral shower, was also spacious, clean and equipped with the usual complementary soaps. A point to remember about bathroom use in Peru is that the sewage system is unable to cope with unnatural waste, so all paper products must be placed in the bin always provided next to the toilet - I don't envy the chambermaid!
From the fifth floor we had an interesting view over the neighbourhood rooftops, with mountains in the background, and luckily we faced the right direction to enjoy a perfect sunrise. Overall the room itself was not particularly memorable, but functional and well appointed.
THE RESTAURANT
The multi-purpose dining area was a clean, yet uninspiring wooden canteen style affair, located at street level in the lobby. From 6-10:30am it offered a reasonable self-service buffet of cereals, fresh fruits, yoghurts, drop scones, toast, potato, juice and hot drinks.
At lunchtime, the sleepy hotel burst into life with a mass invasion of besuited office workers dropping in for the very reasonably priced "Executive Buffet Lunch". If your idea of a pleasant midday repast is grappling the serving spoon from a sweating Jose, while Carlos bellows the latest figures at the stock exchange down his cell phone, then this is definitely for you.
After that spurt of activity, the hotel lapses into its usual morbidity for the evening, when the restaurant is closed. Nearby are a few small restaurants, Western and Chinese, and a good supermarket, but they are spread out over the surrounding streets and there is not a vast choice. A far better option is to head to the Larco Mar complex in the tourist area of Miraflores (NS$12 - about £ by taxi), where a string of high quality restaurants, bars and cafes line the cliff top for open air dining as the sun sinks below the horizon, at very reasonable prices to our European wallets. For example my set menu of cocktail, sandwich platter, salad, gateaux and hot chocolate (South American style, with actual melted chocolate) came to around £4.
PROBLEMS AND GRUMBLINGS
1. As in many regions of the world where there is a vast gulf between rich and poor, travellers to Peru are advised to lock valuables and documents in the room safe rather than leave them lying around. This is a much-touted fact of which hotels often remind guests on arrival - indeed I did hear of an $800 watch go missing at a different and much better hotel in Peru. However, the Posada had lost the safe key to our room, preventing us from using this vital room function, and then hinted at check-out that we had in fact misplaced it. If a facility is provided, and deemed so necessary, it should be available.
2. Despite the chambermaid hovering incessantly outside my room on the morning after arrival, we returned in the evening to find that he had neglected to make any effort to service the room. A small oversight maybe, but this should not happen in a 4* hotel.
3. The worse point to the hotel was the frequent power cuts, which seemed to be a specific issue with the hotel's supply. Being plunged into darkness in an unfamiliar bathroom is no laughing matter, especially with that toilet bin lurking somewhere near the door, but what particularly didn't impress me was being trapped in the black abyss of the lift late in the evening.
OPINION
The word which comes to mind to sum up my stay at the Posada del Inca San Isidro is adequate. It is a clean, functional and well appointed hotel, but it is also unremarkable and forgettable. Apart from my few mishaps, there is inherently nothing wrong with it, but rather than the tourist hotel the Posada markets itself as, it is really a business hotel in a business district on the lookout to cash in on the holiday market. For my party of adults, who spent most of their stay out about town, it was suitable, but it is not the kind of hotel which would appeal to a family in style or location, and for a 4* hotel it is amazingly short on facilities.
There is something about the Posada chain which seems impersonal and removed. I stayed in several Posadas during my travels in Peru, and none of them really captured my admiration, as did other Peruvian hotels and chains, all of which were more approachable, relaxed and friendly, reflecting the gregarious nature of this wonderful country.
So would I recommend the Posada del Inca San Isidro? For a traveller heading to San Isidro on business it would be a reasonable choice. For a tourist, I would recommend finding somewhere in Miraflores, where excellent shopping, world class restaurants, sea views and a recreational atmosphere could surround you.
FURTHER INFORMATION
Hotel Posada del Inca San Isidro
Av. Libertadores 490,
Lima
Tel: (51-1) 222-4373
Fax: (51-1) 222-4370
For some reason this hotel is not listed on the group website: http://www.sonesta.com/peru_lima/
Beware, there is another Sonesta Posada del Inca (El Olivar) located a couple of streets away, which is more luxurious and seems to be the member hotel the chain actively push in this area, whilst ignoring the San Isidro. Indeed, one of our taxi drivers didn't even seem to know our hotel existed.
The hotel is wheel-chair friendly in layout.
My stay was part of a package, but room rates including breakfast are roughly:
Single US$68
Double US$82
© 2006 V.L.Collyer
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