This is not a bad place, let me just say that from the start. Aguas Calientas is notoriously nothing but a tourist town, and the options for staying are very limited. I didn't expect to need a room at all, but soroche (altitude sickness) dictated a swift descent from the Inca Trail, mandating a room in AG at the base of Machu Picchu.

They WILL try to gouge you, price-wise. You just have to stand your ground and try to negotiate a better rate. For instance, when I came in, I was coming from another property that my Inca Trail travel company tried to put me up in - it was horrible, so I decided to pay to stay elsewhere. The front desk of the previous place called the Santuario staff and the girl at the front desk quoted $115 soles, the highest rate for a single room. I decided to try my luck in person and when I asked another woman at the desk the rate, she looked to the girl who'd quoted the high rate and asked her what was quoted. When I asked if there was a better rate, she said that was the standard. I then asked her, "So why'd you look to her to see what the rate was?" She smiled a little, and I got it knocked down to $100 soles per night for two nights. I used to manage a hotel's front desk, so I know the tricks of the trade. Just try to negotiate, that's all I'm saying. They know there are few options, so are going to try to get as much as they can out of you for what are, simply put, average accommodations.

Despite getting off on the wrong foot with the awkward rate discussion, things went a lot more smoothly after that. The room had an amazing view overlooking the rushing river, and the mountains surrounding it. The bed was alright, if a bit lumpy and lopsided, and the bathroom was the best bit - clean, spacious, and very hot water. The tv is a bit tricky, in that you have to point the remote a certain way below the tv in order to get it to work. I called the front desk twice (once for a fan - there is no air, which is fine - and once for the inability to change the channel on the tv). Despite saying they would send someone up, they never did. In other words, the service is pretty sub-par.

Still, they have free internet and breakfast in the lobby. The breakfast was average, and the whole city had a strange thing with loss of power the next morning until about 2pm in the afternoon. No big deal, it just gives you time to walk around and try to find something redeeming about the environs. The main square isn't bad, and the markets are fairly extensive. (Again, bargaining is a must there, too.) Don't expect to have a "Peruvian experience" here, though, because the entire place is strictly, exclusively, teeming with tourists.

The front desk people lightened up, smiled a bit, and the room was sufficient for my unscheduled two-night stay. I wouldn't recommend it in any other city, but for Aguas Calientas, I reckon it's probably one of the best places to stay that doesn't cost an arm and a leg, like a boutique/spa place would.

We stayed here for one night. We got a 2nd floor room with a small balcony (although there is another door from the hallway that led to the balcony and to our room. Our room also had a door leading to the balcony). At first I thought it was great to have a balcony looking over the the river, but then noticed that the lock to the balcony door leading from our room can be easily unlocked from the outside if you moved the door back and forth. Also since our room was close to ground level of the hotel, the bathroom window was located so that anyone from the outside can probably break in to our room. We did not feel safe. the room smelled musty, there were some stains on the carpet and the lighting wasn't that great. It made the room feel dark. There was also the issue of the bathroom shower door not shutting and it fell off while I was taking a shower b/c the door hinges were broken off from the shower wall. The only good thing about the room is the bed - which was a double, but adequate.

My husband and I are seasoned travellers and we've stayed in many hostels and small cheap hotels and motels all over the world. we've seen hotel/motel rooms similar to this hotel, but in better condition than the one we stayed in. Maybe it was just our room that had these issues, but I am sure other guests complained about this, but nothing was done to correct these issues to make the guests feel comfortable and safe.

We had a small room and a tiny bathroom. We did not have a view of the river, but we did have a "Private" balcony (they told us it was private, but there was a second door leading out to it from the hallway that anyone could access. No one did, but they could have).

The room was small, but had ample space for our gear, unlike one of our other hotels. The bathroom, however, was muy muy pequeno. You literally had to step over the toilet in order to get into the shower. It was relatively clean though and, though the hot water inexplicably got hotter during my shower, there was plenty of hot water to be had, which is something in and of itself.

The breakfast was decent enough... standard Peruvian hotel breakfast buffet.

The hotel was easy to find, being located right along the river (and right along the bus route, so we'd seen it on our way up to Machu Picchu.

The hotel did not have anyone waiting at the train station for luggage when we got there, so we had to take our overnight bag to the luggage storage at the top. They did transport our bag to the train station the next day though (although they were later than all the other hotels, getting there right at boarding time).

This hotel is nice, the location is convenient, even though it' a bit far from the bus stop or the city centre compared to other hotels but we are talking about 5 minutes walk, Aguas Calientes is very small. We had a good room with river view, the breakfast was good too. A good hotel but the price is too high compared to the standards.