La Habana Amazon Reserve — Hotel in Tambopata

A beautiful location everything else, starting with the service by the staff. None of them seem to have any experience in handling guests, although the oldest reviews go back to five years ago. It's a father and his (adult) children (we only saw the dad once, the rest he left to his children to take care of). Their attitude towards everything screams that they don't like doing this kind of work. Whenever you approach to ask something, you get the vibe that they're afraid of getting questions and they won't know what to do. As soon as they can, they dissapear to watch their phone in the kitchen area where you have to go over yourself to ask them for anything you'd normally would be asked as a guest in any other situation. None of them have any notion of english. Good thing i speak some spanish, otherwise our means of communication would have been a total disaster. it got worse everyday. Let me start off by saying that there never were more than 4 guests in the entire hotel (including me and my girlfriend). So they had VERY LITTLE WORK. EVEN THEN: Not once did any of them ask how the food was, if we needed something else,... the last evening i had to call one of the sons (he was in charge of the restaurant that evening) to come and get our plates after we finished our meal when we were finished for more than 45 minutes. For some reason suddenly there were only 3 out of the 10 options on the menu available that night. I ordered the steak, which was disgustingly salty, alltough expensive (40 soles). If i hadn't asked, we'd still be sitting with our dirty plates on the table for the rest of the evening while he was watching his phone behind the bar without ONCE glancing up to see if we needed anything. They make you come over to them for everything, even the simple stuff as ordering a drink when they bring your food, they just never ask. It's like the thought has never even come up in their head that a guest would like to drink something. They just put the food on the table and walk away. It's like that with everything you can imagine. You are a nuissance, that's the feeling they leave you with. They act suprised with the simplest of questions. A robot would have done a better job. Also, there is no reception for questions. You'd think they have some brochures or info ready about what to do in the area, but nothing. So imagine coming here when you don't speak spanish (or only a little). Their bookingpage was in fluent English, so when we arrived we expected to at least be able to talk to someone who could speak a bit of english, which clearly wasn't the case. The pictures online haven't been updated in ages (there used to be a net above the pool, there were multiple pool beds, now only one), same for entertainment (missing dartboard). The pooltable is practicly unplayable and a ball was missing. Nothing is being taken care of. If something breaks, they just don't replace it. There was a plastic bag filled with thrash (probably taken out of a room while cleaning) in front of our room in the grass, it stayed there for more than 2 days untill we had to leave. They never came back to pick it up. The rooms are only cleaned on a superficial level. The first night, i noticed we had a giant cockroach in our bathroom (which is openly connected to the bedroom). Never in my life have i've seen such a reactive staff (instead of being active towards the guests' needs/questions). After the first day they asked us if they could clean our room. The second day they asked nothing, nor did they clean the room. Our thrash wasn't emptied, the towels weren't replaced, the beds weren't made. If i went for a swim, I had to clean the pool myself of bugs and other stuff because, guess what, not one of them seemed to care. I honestly can't believe the mindset of the family for opening up a bungalow parc. Never in my life have i been so dissapointed in the service of the hotel i was staying at, ESPECIALLY because it's such a beautiful place with such amazing possibilities. They just don't seem to care about the...

If we could rate this place higher than 5 stars, we would. This lodge was incredible in every way! We signed up for the 4 days/3 nights tour (please refer to our review of Tambopata Wild who provided the activities) and left feeling highly satisfied with our Amazon adventure. We chose this lodge because we wanted to have the jungle experience but didn’t want to go deep deep into the jungle as the wife tends to be scared of critters. This place was the perfect blend of rustic charm surrounded by a beautiful landscape that offered 24 hour electricity, WiFi, refrigerator, outdoor eating, and a pool! The hospitality delivered by the hosts were incredibly amazing. It is run by a family who really cared about taking care of their guests. Herbert, Jorge, and sister Rocio, and their dad were so helpful and friendly and made us feel as if mi casa es su casa. Whatever we needed, they were extremely kind and quick with the response and accommodated us beyond our expectations. The meals cooked by Herbert were delicious and included an awesome daily variety along with fresh juice from local fruits. We both tend to have big appetites and was concerned that the meals might not be enough given the full activities we had, but they provided an abundance of food and it was never an issue. Plus they provided an endless amount of ice cold bottled water. The bungalows were lovely and quite roomy, with a clean bathroom and hot shower available. We slept unbelievably well in the bed and loved the sounds of nature throughout the day and night. You’re able to hear all sorts of birds and monkey sounds yet it was very peaceful at the property. Each bungalow also had a porch with a hammock which was great when we needed to relax. In addition to a beautiful pool, there’s a trail on the property that leads to a canopy and a big pond in the back, a tree swing, games to play, and it’s a reasonable ride into town if needed. The whole place was inviting and our experience left us wishing we could have stayed longer. Gracias to the...

From an American Perspective: We stayed two nights at La Habana Amazon Reserve, and loved it! The contrast between Cusco and Puerto Maldonado is stunning for such a short distance away. The rain forest is vibrant and full of life, and we saw many tropical birds, a troop of monkeys, and a pair of porcupines on the property during our short stay, and two sloths nearby.

There is a wonderful 2.7 mile trail through the forest on the property so you can immerse yourself in the jungle. I walked the trail each day and saw different things each time. Pro tip: pick up a stick and waive it in front of yourself as you walk to keep the spiders webs out of your face! You can also easily walk to the Tambopata River across the street.

The staff is ridiculously friendly and helpful! Taxis into town are affordable and the staff can arrange them for you, although you won’t need to leave the property if you don’t want to. We only left once during our stay. They have food and drinks available for you. The food is affordable and tasty. There is free safe water available at the bar so you don’t have to keep buying wasteful disposable bottles. We loved playing with Pepe the pool cat (don’t let the staff tell you that’s not his name) and Brian the goat.

Please arrive with the proper expectations. This is a nature preserve with a lodge, not a luxury hotel resort. Think of it like luxury camping. It is in the jungle, all the facilities are outside, and the individual cabins have thatch roofs. It is as clean as it can be but there will be bugs. You will need to bring bug spray for the mosquitoes, but they never really bothered me during my stay. I used Ben’s 30% DEET wipes with good results.

I would highly recommend experiencing the Amazon during your trip to Peru, and La Habana Amazon Reserve is a great place to do it. If you go, give Pepe some...