Katari at Plaza de Armas Cusco — Hotel in Distrito de Cusco

The Katari front desk clerk who checked me in on a morning that turned out to be Carnivale when I'd had no sleep for 2 days already, was a saint. TRULY. After a snafu with airport pickup, once I was at last there in the Katari lobby at 7:30 a.m., Erwin was able not only to let me know he'd Whatsapped me (I hadn't had that on yet) but he'd upgraded me for free, I was on the ground floor and wouldn't have to deal with luggage stuff, AND he could check me in early after all. That ability to just go straight in and not have to walk around in a zombie state until 2 p.m. was the gift I hadn't known I'd need. HE WAS A SAINT.

The hospitality I've received here at Katari has been second to none. The breakfast is upstairs and is a full panoply of both Peruvian and 'Euro-standard' buffet items including the local breads and cheeses.

My room was mostly great. I really struggled with the outlets; I had to cast incantations (maybe kidding) and have my adapters dangling at odd angles to get a connection. Some outlets I swear didn't function at all but I figured it could well be me not knowing how to do it. There are no clocks, but again, that could be the American in me that is used to such. There's a huge, gorgeous tub, but no plug. I suppose if I'd really wanted to soak I could have asked, but it seemed implied perhaps that showering only was the intention.

The location is extraordinary, especially if small and windy roads might get you turned around, or you're distracted by oh, say alpacas on the street. The Katari is literally across from THE huge plaza and big structure. Being able to hone in on it to return back to my little nest has been great. The courtyard I'm facing is adorable, but it is stone and voices really do carry. That said, it's an adventure, and I've felt like a valued person during my 3 day...

I chose this hotel because my top choices were sold out, and I probably wouldn’t choose to stay here again. There were some positive aspects, but they were outweighed by the negatives.

Pros: The receptionists are very helpful and friendly. They will hold your baggage for free if you leave to go somewhere else for a night (like Machu Picchu) and after checkout (although I believe most places will do this). They recognized me and remembered which suitcase was mine when I returned a day later and brought my baggage to my new room without me having to do anything. Location is right on the Plaza de Armas, a short walk to many great restaurants and attractions. Breakfast was included until 9am with yogurt, eggs, fruit, coffee, juice, and other beverages Strong hot shower Electric kettle in each room to boil drinking water

Cons: Because the location is so central, it’s very noisy, especially at night and early morning. The rooms encircle a central open-air forum area, so sound carries a lot, and I was woken up several times by people having loud conversations in the forum at odd hours. You can hear the noise from every room because of how the space is designed. Cleanliness: the carpets in the rooms felt really dirty. I kept my shoes on in the room because it looked like they hadn’t been strongly vacuumed in a while. Many of the towels also were fraying, and paint/mirrors were chipped in...

This hotel is an average mid range - depends which room you get, we stayed twice (once before MP and once after) our first room was nice (large king bed) but our adult children had a dark & dingy room with no outside window and on our 2nd stay we had a twin room which was dark and only had a windows to the corridor - some have no outside windows! In our first room the bathroom drains smelt awful and there was NO hot water in the morning!!

The breakfast is ok, fairly basic but good enough.

It's ok if you can get a good price but their advertised price for a small double/twin is $140 which is way over priced

The location is great - and they had a nice sofa area outside our room

No free bottled water in the room - but if we asked at reception they would do fill our bottles with filtered water (from a...