Hostal Chaski — Hotel in Distrito de Cusco

I stayed at El Chaski for a total of three nights surrounding a one night visit to Machu Picchu and was very happy with my stay. I am very surprised by the amount of negative reviews on here, as this was not my experience at all. Maybe management has changed recently? First of all, this place is all about the location. Pretty average otherwise, but the location, directly on the Plaza de Armas, is nothing short of spectacular. My room (#202) had a balcony overlooking the plaza....again, simply spectacular. Otherwise, the room was mediocre. Cable TV, hot water, WiFi, etc. were functional. I found the service to be friendly and helpful. They stored my big bag for free when I visited Machu Picchu, allowed me to check into the room when I wandered in at 8am for no extra cost and twice they got my laundry done for me efficiently and at a reasonable cost. Just note, the flipside of having a balcony overlooking the most fantastic public space in South America is the associated noise. Taxi drivers start blowing their horns and dogs start barking quite early in Cusco, so expect to be woken up at 5am. Overall though, if you can get the room with the balcony, the view is worth the noise and overall mediocrity of the place and is unbeatable in the budget...

Hostal El Chaski is a very basic, no frills accommodation. Our triple room was relatively clean, your average 2 Star Hotel cleanliness. Bring your own sleeping bag liner if a clean bed is important to you. |The Internet and warm water are regularly turned off (probably to save cost), so either expect to take cold showers and being offline a lot of the time, or keep on asking them to turn it on again, which they will do for you (this however still does not guarantee hot water).||The location is perfect, right in the centre of town. It's safe and close to a lot of good restaurants. The central location however also means that its quite noisy at night (and sometimes even during the day as there are so many processions and festivals going on in Cuzco), so bring ear plugs it you're a light sleeper and wish to get some rest. ||We stayed here because we got a "discounted price" as we did a Tour with Chavez Expeditions. If your on a budget then this is a relatively cheap option, however for what it offers even the discounted price is still too...

My friends and I chose this hostel to be closer to the city's center. At check in time, the staff was very friendly. The next morning was a different story. The two young girls working seemed annoyed by us needing to check out, even though it was check out time. There are signs all over the place saying you can pay with Visa, this is another reason why we chose to stay here. When it came time the pay neither of the girls working knew how to use the machine for cards, forcing us to pay in cash. They told us that the only employee who knows how to work the card machine would not be coming until that evening. Why have a card reader and advertise Visa friendly if your only employee who can use it doesn't work check out hours? ||||Otherwise the room was somewhat dirty and the noise from local clubs left us all sleeping...