Hotel Sol de Oriente - Pucallpa — Hotel in Callería

Hotel Sol del Oriente is not new. It is not fancy. There is no concierge. You won't find chocolates on your pillow at night. But this is the favorite hotel for my friends, my wife and me, whenever we are in Pucallpa. I have stayed here at minimum twenty times. When you fly into Pucallpa on any of the airlines, Jesus the driver from the hotel will be in the baggage claim area. He'll just plain be there. So there's your ride.||||The women at the front desk of the hotel have been there for years, have worked together, had babies, gotten married. They are helpful and welcoming. And they remember you. When my friend Sergio and I show up, which is a lot, they immediately pull keys for the part of the hotel we prefer, the balcony to the back. ||||Rooms are nothing special, though clean and with good bathrooms. You will never rave on about the rooms. But they are fine. There is air con and the TV works. Also there's wi-fi. The overall layout of the hotel is in the form of a plaza, with a large swimming pool, patio space all around it, gardens around that, and the buildings of the hotel ringing it all. I practice morning yoga in a tiled area surrounded by flowering bushes, and am always visited by a hummingbird, even though the hotel is smack in the middle of Pucallpa.||||Pucallpa was pretty nasty when I started traveling there over ten years ago. It was seedy and quite crummy downtown. But a serious rehab of the entire downtown area has made this waterfront town much better to visit. There's good food, the streets are safe, transport is cheap, and the waterfront is never more than a couple of minutes away. The very center of town is now a walking avenue, and in the evening there is a lively scene along the boulevard. Sol del Oriente is beside that promenade. ||||Breakfast is a pretty good little buffet with fruits, cereals, toast, fried fish, usually some pork, eggs, juices, plantains. I really enjoy their breakfasts. The coffee is heavy and borderline nasty, but effective. I think is pure robusta, all caffeine and no flavor. When you consider that Peru has some of the best organic shade-grown coffee on earth, it's sad to be served such a stygian brew. Still I hit about four cups, so factor that in. ||||There are some big fancy five star hotels in Pucallpa now, having just missed a petroleum and palm oil boom that came and went like Hurricane Bill. They are mostly empty, gigantic hotels with virtually nobody in them. From outside you can see empty glass elevators riding up and down, somewhat ghostly. But the Sol del Oriente stays pretty busy. This is because regulars like it so much. Oh and it's very reasonably priced, a rock-solid value. Overall it's...

There are few choices in Pucallpa. At the high-end there is the mostly deserted Ucayali River Hotel. Then there are a number of very very modest accomodations. This hotel finds the middle, providing comfort, cleanliness and location without breaking the budget. We spent 4 nights at the Sol de Oriente waiting for our boat downstream to load and depart. The rooms were spotless. There are 2 free internet computers in the lobby. The pool is a great relief from the noise and heat of the city. There is a good free breakfast buffet. The manager, though speaking no English, picked us up at the airport and helped us locate and book passage on the cargo ship Henry VIII for the trip to Iquitos, then dropped us off at the boat for a 4:30 am departure. The rooms are large, well air-conditioned and very quiet. The on-site restaurant is typical Pucallpa quality and very...

This hotel is adequate with OK, but not great, air conditioning, OK, but not great, bed, and OK, but not great bathroom. Breakfast buffet is OK, but not great (you probably guessed that already). Vegetation and animals (the endangered turtles) are OK, but not great and the caged animals in the back are really a sad sight to see. Front desk service is OK. Overall ... OK ... you probably guessed ... OK, but not great. For a place to stay when it's hot and humid, this will work. And there is good food nearby, as well as the city plaza which is great place for people watching. The swimming pool was out of commission. There was plenty of construction noise and other noises...