Apu Lodge — Hotel in Ollantaytambo

First, credit for where credit is due. Walking into the grounds of the Apu Lodge is wonderful. Its tranquil, quiet, quaint and sincerely peaceful, almost retreat like. Our booking process was simple, they helped arrange a taxi for us from Cusco and back, the breakfast is simple, but adequate, and they do offer filtered water that you can safely drink and fill water bottles with. The staff was also fairly friendly. Thats about it though. This shouldn't be listed as a B&B. That creates an impression the facilities are nicer than they are. It's really more of a fancy hostel, with only private rooms. It's mostly clean, but they have water temperature issues, we went from hot to cold over and over again throughout our showers. When they cleaned the room, they took our hand soap, and didnt replace it. The staff, although friendly, were fairly unaware of the area, and unable to really offer much insight on the town. We got better dinner advice from a guest than the staff. One of the worst parts though, was they put us on the bottom floor, with a guest above us, when they had other rooms suitable on second floor. The issue is with the sounds and floor thickness. Read other reviews to confirm. They are so thin, that we could barely get any sleep with the guest above us walking and pounding the floors with her shoes on at all times of the night. We approached the desk in the evening of day two, if they could ask the guest above us to be more considerate. I don't know if they did, but the guest wasn't. Lack of sleep again on night two. Also, be prepared for a 5 minute walk from the city center. 20 to the train station. It's not accessible by car (we knew that), but with a suitcase its a long walk to carry it. We also came back after dinner about 930pm. The gate was locked and it took about 5 minutes before a young 10 year old? boy answered and unlocked the door so we could get to our room. This is inconvenient and very much like hostel living and not a B&B. Small bathrooms are fine when designed correctly, but these are long and narrow, with the toilet perpendicular to the room, resulting in about 6-8 inches between the front of the toilet and the wall. Then add a towel rack on the wall directly above, and you can guarentee you will bonk your head on it at least once when you stand up from the toilet. My wife hit her head so hard she was crying. Also, as other reviews state, yes, strangely alot of bugs in the rooms. Doesn't bother me that much, but with doors and windows closed, it's a bit odd there are so many. Based on the ratings online, I expected a...

We stayed six nights at the wonderful Apu Lodge in Ollantaytambo, a perfect base camp for exploring the Sacred Valley and Machu Picchu. Our room had a great view of the surrounding mountains above the town and its stunning Inca ruins. We watched clouds form and dissolve around the peaks every morning, and stepped outside to admire the Milky Way every night. The hotel is built at the base of a mountain and incorporates Inca irrigation and drains into its beautiful landscape--it's hard to describe how stunning it is. Ollantaytambo is called the last living Inca town because it's built on the original Inca road grid and building layout. If you're going to Machu Picchu, it is so interesting to spend time in this town. The lodge is a short walk to the main plaza down these Inca streets, and its location means it is peaceful. We loved lounging in the hammocks and watching the many birds in the lovely garden. Breakfast was excellent, with a variety of fruit every day, different cereal, local breads, and eggs cooked to order. Good wifi and a very handy laundry service. Staff members were very kind, helpful, and efficient--we got great advice about things to see and places to eat. This is a great place to acclimatize for the Inca Trail/Machu Picchu, as it's about 9000 feet above sea level and therefore lower and closer than Cusco. A friend recommended Apu Lodge and we are so glad we...

A nice place. Ollantaytambo is a good base for visiting Machu Pichu. You can easily take the train to MP in the morning and get back to sleep in the Apu Lodge at night. There are also a couple of interesting, less visited, Inka ruins within walking distance of the hotel (note that many of the sites in the Sacred Valley are only accessible by car), and a pleasant town square. I'd recommend staying for 2-3 nights.||After reading other reviews, I wish I would have asked them about transportation from the Cusco airport and for a room on the 2nd floor, which apparently have better views. But I have no complaints about our room on the first floor.||It is kind of a long walk up a cobblestone street, slightly uphill, to get to the hotel from the plaza. They'll carry your bags up, but, for my wife, it was a challenge just to walk up the street on her first day in the high altitude. Take that into consideration if you are travelling with someone who has...