Hotel Torino — Hotel in La Paz

I stayed at Hostal Torino for a bit over a week and while I was a bit off-put by the place at first, the place grew on me as it has a bit of character in all its dilapidation and it certainly fit in well with my budget (private without bathroom only 50 Bolivianos).||||The rooms are decent sized and the beds reasonably comfortable as long as you don't get a saggy "banana bed" like some of the rooms I saw have. The furnishings are spartan with only a bed, table, chair, bedside table and cloak hanger. Most but not all rooms have power-points so you can recharge your phone etc.||||I would say that you probably wouldn't want to stay in about half the rooms in this place due to the morning light that comes through on one side (no curtains at this wonderful establishment) and the location of many rooms around the courtyard which sometimes hosts functions until late at night. Definitely avoid such rooms on a Friday and Saturday night when there are likely to be functions and ask staff at reception what's booked throughout your stay. My recommendation is to take one of the even numbered rooms between 70 and 82 as you'll avoid loud noise and morning light, though some of the other rooms facing the cathedral may do the job too. ||||The bathrooms at this place are OK. Contrary to some earlier reviews I read, the water is reliably warm at this place in the communal bathrooms and I didn't experience any electric shocks from the shower head like some other reviewers mentioned. ||||The staff are generally good besides one or two surly members. I had to change my room at 1am one night as there was a madman next to me laughing at what seemed to be nothing for hours (Note: This place attracts nutcases like nothing else!) and the night man let me do so for free. The hotel has a generous midday checkout policy and also a luggage storage service free of charge.||||Internet is available in the lobby but it only functions 50% of the time. ||||The location is fantastic being close to many attractions and away from the gringo infested road that is Sagarnaga. This place is a good option for those looking to get a little solace from the backpacker trail as there are very few gringos here and the ones you do meet here are likely to be fairly alternative. ||||Overall, I think Torino is a good deal as long as you get a good room - away from the courtyard, free of morning light and with...

I used to stay here back in the 1970's. The room cost US$90 per month. No lie. Now, it's more, lol. In those days the only showers were at the end of the corridor. No bathroom in the rooms. We used to wash our clothing in the utility sink, and put it out on the tin roof to dry. I swear that soaking wet blue jeans were dry in 10 minutes, given the sun, altitude, and low humidity. We ate every day in the court yard. My favorite dish was Polo Milinesa, sin heuvos, on account of I don't particularly like eggs. A very relaxing place to stay in La Paz back in the 1970's. When the bullets started to fly during brief periods of political turmoil, we were quite safe behind the old stone walls. In order to keep the chill off (there were no room heaters then) we used to buy large white candles in the market, and light five or six to keep the room at around 15 degrees C at night. These candles were used for funerals, so all the market ladies thought that we had a lot of relatives dying all the time. I wonder if they ever figured it out. I lived there for three years, on and off. It was my base of operations in South America, and i kept the room rented even while I was...

Big, rambling old hotel. Really nothing wrong with it although bathrooms aren't very clean.. didn't see anyone cleaning anything the two days we spent there. But there is always room, so when you arrive at 5am you can get right into a room which is such a treat. The staff are perfectly fine - will help you with directions if you ask. The internet is ok - only really worked down in the reception. The beds we had in room 44 were very comfy and the room was so nice and quiet. Cheap at 90Bs for two people for a private bedroom with shared bathroom. Right near town centre easy walk to main tourist street - right by the presidential buildings and the old cathedral. oh and they have live classical music playing every day during lunch time in the restaurant in the central court - you feel like you're in the...