Mistico San Blas Boutique — Hotel in Distrito de Cusco

I can't recommend this place after they held our luggage HOSTAGE at checkout. We had a two day stay here, and below was my experience.

Minor complaint: There was hot water only in the morning and evening. It seems they turned the water heater way down around 9 or 10am until whatever hour in the evening.

Major complaint: They accused us of breaking a thermos and held our luggage (containing passports, and emergency epipens) hostage until we paid for it. (Our story below)

At check-in the girl at the front desk brought a thermos full of hot water and teas, which at the time seemed nice. On day two I asked another staff member to refill the thermos, which she did, but before doing so I observed her staring into the thermos as if something was wrong with it. Fast forward to checkout day, we checked out and asked to check our luggage for an hour. Upon return, the girl at the front desk proceeded to tell us we owed 70 Soles (approximately $18 USD) for a broken Thermos, and refused to give back our luggage until we paid the amount. It's not a huge sum of money, but I'm against paying for something we didn't break.

We were very shocked of the accusations as the thermos never left the desk in our room except to be refilled once. We never dropped it or misused out. This was relayed to the staff member, who then insisted she had inspected the thermos prior to giving it to us. Apparently this must be a common item that breaks for them as she proceeded to show us a receipt for 6 thermos purchased the week prior.

This is the type of thermos which has a flip up spout to pour water. You would only know the interior glass was damaged by unscrewing the top, which we never did. During our use of the thermos we only used the pour spout, and thus would have never had the opportunity to inspect the thermos upon receipt. What's even more concerning is apparently they had us drinking from a thermos full of broken glass!!!!

We ended up calling the tourist police, and spending 3-4 hours trying to explain our side. Unfortunately the police could only act as an intermediary.

Really, I don't know how the thermos became broken. Perhaps it had a fracture in the interior glass when they gave it to us, which got worse during our stay. Perhaps she have us a broken thermos. Perhaps they broke it after checkout. Perhaps this was all a scam to get an extra 70 Soles.

I realize that when you rent a hotel room you're responsible for any damage, and if we had caused this damage I would have been more than happy to compensate them, but there's just no way we directly caused the damage.

After going back and forth with the manager for what seems to be hours, they were insistent we caused the damage and couldn't seem to grasp the concept that we were never given the right to inspect the thermos upon receipt, or that it could have simply been a manufacturing defect. Had I known this was such a big issue for them at the beginning, I would have just rejected the thermos at the beginning. Maybe they need to buy a better quality thermos or just not offer this amenity.

In the end, we paid the money so we could get our luggage back as this was just not worth escalating. I think we were very respectful guests during our stay, and I just don't understand why they couldn't hear our side. Instead they decided to play judge and jury. I feel scammed!

To put this in perspective, I've been traveling to Peru for 10 years and the hospitality here is generally fantastic. This is the only time I have ever felt someone has taken advantage of me. Shame on you Mistico for making a guest feel like a villain. Was this all really with 70 Soles?

This experience was so horrible that I can't even talk about...

I can't recommend this place after they held our luggage HOSTAGE at checkout. We had a two day stay here, and below was my experience.||||Major complaint: They accused us of breaking a thermos and held our luggage (containing passports, and emergency epipens) hostage until we paid for it. (Our story below)||||At check-in the girl at the front desk brought a thermos full of hot water and teas, which at the time seemed nice. On day two I asked another staff member to refill the thermos, which she did, but before doing so I observed her staring into the thermos as if something was wrong with it. Fast forward to checkout day, we checked out and asked to check our luggage for an hour. Upon return, the girl at the front desk proceeded to tell us we owed 70 Soles (approximately $18 USD) for a broken Thermos, and refused to give back our luggage until we paid the amount. It's not a huge sum of money, but I'm against paying for something we didn't break.||||We were very shocked of the accusations as the thermos never left the desk in our room except to be refilled once. We never dropped it or misused out. This was relayed to the staff member, who then insisted she had inspected the thermos prior to giving it to us. Apparently this must be a common item that breaks for them as she proceeded to show us a receipt for 6 thermos purchased the week prior.||||This is the type of thermos which has a flip up spout to pour water. You would only know the interior glass was damaged by unscrewing the top, which we never did. During our use of the thermos we only used the pour spout, and thus would have never had the opportunity to inspect the thermos upon receipt. What's even more concerning is apparently they had us drinking from a thermos full of broken glass!!!!||||We ended up calling the tourist police, and spending 3-4 hours trying to explain our side. Unfortunately the police could only act as an intermediary.||||Really, I don't know how the thermos became broken. Perhaps it had a fracture in the interior glass when they gave it to us, which got worse during our stay. Perhaps she have us a broken thermos. Perhaps they broke it after checkout. Perhaps this was all a scam to get an extra 70 Soles.||||I realize that when you rent a hotel room you're responsible for any damage, and if we had caused this damage I would have been more than happy to compensate them, but there's just no way we directly caused the damage.||||After going back and forth with the manager for what seems to be hours, they were insistent we caused the damage and couldn't seem to grasp the concept that we were never given the right to inspect the thermos upon receipt, or that it could have simply been a manufacturing defect. Had I known this was such a big issue for them at the beginning, I would have just rejected the thermos at the beginning. Maybe they need to buy a better quality thermos or just not offer this amenity.||||In the end, we paid the money so we could get our luggage back as this was just not worth escalating. I think we were very respectful guests during our stay, and I just don't understand why they couldn't hear our side. Instead they decided to play judge and jury. I feel scammed!||||To put this in perspective, I've been traveling to Peru for 10 years and the hospitality here is generally fantastic. This is the only time I have ever felt someone has taken advantage of me. Shame on you Mistico for making a guest feel like a villain. Was this all really with 70 Soles?||||This experience was so horrible that I can't even talk about...

The good: The staff was super attentive and friendly. They helped me try to resolve an issue with the laundry shop beside that did not deliver our clothes. The location is great, walking distance to the mirador San Blas and Mercado San Blas. The rooms are small but clean.

The bad: If you stay in the rooms on the first floor you can hear people on the second floor flushing the toilet and the water running through the pipes. Hearing that all day and night can get uncomfortable, especially at night when you are trying to sleep. There is no really soundproofing in the rooms as I could hear everytime was walking and talking on the hallway. I woke up several times through the night because of guests talking in the main sitting area. The bathroom is really small and it is a bit of a challenge getting in and shutting the door. Breakfast times are not flexible and do not start earlier than 7am. At other places if you leave early they prepare a lunch box. The hot water was inconsistent. When we checked back in after our trek, we had to wait over 1 hour for hot water and at most it came out warm. I ended up showering with cold water as I just wanted to sleep. If these things were improved, it would be an...