Uros Aruma Uro Lodge Puno Peru — Hotel in undefined

My friend and I stayed here for one night (in fact we left just two hours ago). We had read all the good reviews and that was how we selected this place.||Initially Sara (relative of the owners) told us there were two ways to get to the island: we could take any boat going out to any Uros island, which would cost us 10 soles plus 8 soles “entrance fee” for the islands (side note: it’s likely a scam, people who arrived later in the evening didn’t have to pay since the person collecting money went home); following arrival on any Uros island, we could call them and they would pick us up. Second option is called private transfer which is pick ip from Puno harbor directly, we were quoted 6 dollars (although other guests the same night said they paid 5 dollars).|We had another friend who booked on a nearby island, which provided free transfer from Puno. A very nice receptionist at a Puno hostel said he knew Aruma Uro owner Elsa, so he called her and she agreed to ask the other hotel to pick us up at the same time (no charge). So, a great start.||Once we arrived on Aruma Uro, we were shown our bedroom, the external bathrooms, and the external showers. We rested in our rooms for a bit, then went outside. First surprise: all the adults had vanished. From 1pm to 6pm, we were all alone on the island, except for some local children who were playing there. There was no tour, no presentation of Uros history, no demonstration of any sort. We were willing to pay 10 soles for a ride on reed boat but again, no adults to be found.||Come bedtime, second surprise: out of the three beds in our room, two of them had bugs crawling all over. And not just one type of bug, it was a whole bunch. I killed the ones I could see, but new ones would appear every few minutes. In the end I used up most of my bug spray on the bedsheets, and spent the night sleeping fully clothed in a somewhat upright position. When I woke up at 4am, I found a few more dead bugs (thanks bug spray!).||We were scheduled to leave at 7am, and at dinner the previous day, they told us breakfast at 6am. Third surprise: at 6:30am still no sign of owners, I had to call them, they rushed out to make breakfast, which we had ten minutes to eat.||When we met up with our friend who’d stayed at Uros Waliski Lodge, she said she had a fantastic time with her host family, and she was crying when she had to say good bye. They had taken her out in reed boat, shown her how the islands were made, explained the history, even gave her a small souvenir necklace. Also, her bathroom and shower were ensuite, which is really important considering how cold it gets at night. (My friend and I both skipped showering at Aruma Uro since you had to then walk back to your room in the cold). In all fairness, Waliski Lodge seems a little more expensive, but I will let you be the judge of these two vastly different homestay experiences.||Two stars for Elsa agreeing to help with the boat transfer, and the dinner was not bad. The island is very run down as another reviewer mentioned, there are spider webs everywhere. Finally, you cannot really see either sunrise or sunset, rooms on that side of the island seem to be used by owners and their family. Understandable, but a huge...

The night spent on the straw floating island owned by Juan and his wife was really a highlight of my stay in Peru. Juan collected me on another island where collectivo dropped me off on his boat.|The cabin... let me catch my breath... was stunning! Wonderfully decorated and with a big patio with bed to watch the Titicaca lake from outdoors (if you are able to bear cold you can even sleep outside). There is big glass wall however in the room, so you can have very similar experience even from the inside. There is fully equipped bathroom with both bath and shower (but water can be bit cold), and you get around 5 blankets (lake get cold during the night). Breakfast were served at the time preferred by me, were delicious and even filling.|Juan is a very nice person, and speaks slowly, so even a person speaking only un poco spanish can have meaningful conversation with him (also about a lifestyle at floating islands). I was not hungry for a dinner, but later Juan stopped by and brought big thermos for me to make a tea. This was exactly what I needed and it made me very happy. |This floating island was really a tranquil place, I spent around 2 hours just watching ducks and boats passing by. |Juan even provided a transport for me in the morning to catch my early bus to Cusco and for a fraction of price offered by tour operators (who even were very reluctant to provide it in the first place if I did not take 2day trip).|I advice to contact floating island hotel directly, since I think that overnight stay organized by group tours takes place on one of the non-floating islands further from the coast. (I did not take the tour, but explored floating island and Taquile island independently by collectivo, which I think is much...

Unfortunately we left Juan’s accommodations severely disappointed. To start, when we arrived, it was in the pouring rain and they made us take a taxi to a sketchy “local” port, not actually the main port in Puno. My girlfriend and I had to change in the back of a taxi to trudge through water and mud to get to the boat that we waited 30 min for in the dark. When we arrived to the island, the accommodations were decent but our toilet and sink leaked and everything smelled like lake water. As we started to go to sleep, one of the hot water bottles that Juan gave us to keep us warm through the night exploded all over my girlfriend and could have seriously injured her. Luckily she was ok and they found us a new room and bed. The rest of our stay was fine but for almost $70 a night, NOT including transportation to and from the island it is very expensive for what you get. You are also basically forced to have the family cook you meals unless you pay for transportation to and from Puno which I felt they overcharged for. It was $14 US a plate for dinner which amounted to frozen french fries, boiled vegetables and a piece of pan seared chicken. Not awful but very expensive considering the options in Puno. Overall we felt a bit taken advantage of…this could have been the least expensive leg of our trip if we stayed in the town but ended up being the most expensive accommodations we paid for in ALL of Peru. The family is wonderful, I want to reiterate that they are very nice and caring but I’d advise people who want an “island” experience to think twice.

Prices: Transport - $10 a person Food - $14 a plate Room...