KAARO HOTEL EL BUHO — Hotel in Puno

This is an OK hotel and I would stay here again if I couldn't find something better for the price. We stayed here before and after other excursions on the lake and to Bolivia. Both of our rooms had an unpleasant smell coming from the shower drain (most noticeable when coming back in when the windows had been closed) and the shower was only hot in the morning. Breakfast was Ok. You can ask for eggs. Hot water for tea and coffee is available but limited hours and often ran out (they should invest in a bigger dispenser - it is impossible for the staff to keep the existing thermus ones full as they are very small). Both times we arrived for check-in, early morning and evening but times that had been communicated, the door was locked, no one was at the desk, and no one answered the phone. We waited about 10 to 20 minutes. Staff were nice. They could provide more info on restaurants (there are only 2 they suggest) and activities. We appreciated that they allowed us early check-in for free and late...

Positive sides: It's clean, there is a good service, they can help you with your tour and get you a discount (even if the guide we had when we booked through the hotel was too lazy to fully pronounce words in english so we only got 30% of the explanations) , breakfast is included (even if we never tried it), if you need a heater (will probably do) they can help you with that. Free tea on every floor.

Negative sides: it's an incredibly old building, a but ugly too. The rooms get enough natural light but after 5pm it gets very dark. The bed we has was pretty broken, there were springs broken all over it. You can hear EVERYTHING AND EVERYONE. You can hear the guests walking above your heads and the babies in the room next to yours. There is fireworks way too often in this city and you can totally hear that too.

Good value for...

No tea/coffee in the room and it was pretty cramped with two beds. Having said that, it was lovely and quiet, lovely pillows, nice thick blankets and the shower was fantastic once you set it to the right temperature. The breakfast was also nice but you have to get there early to get eggs as breakfast opens at 6am to allow everyone to join the various tours which tend to start at 7am. The location of the hotel is great; right in the middle of the town. The pizza restaurant right opposite is great too, there is a cashmachine around the corner and lots of little shops which sell pretty much everything. As there is a chain link at the end of the road there isn't much traffic going past, making it much quieter than in other parts of the town. The staff are lovely and helpful too. We would definitely...