Accommodation Review: Kamila Lodge Cusco

I like staying in dorms. They are cheap and you get to meet a lot of new people. But I scored a nice deal at Booking.com for Kamila Lodge. I got a double room for $30 for two nights. That’s $15 a night, cheap enough like a dorm, and I get my own bathroom. 

Charming cobblestone streets, but lined with street vendors

The location is perfect: near Plaza de Armas (a 10-15-minute walk, some uphill) lots of restaurants, ATMs, money changers, supermarket laundry and souvenir shops. The guy at the reception was very helpful in giving me tips and spoke good English. The lodge is in a preserved part of Cusco, I believe, so the building is quite old. I got here by taking a taxi from Poroy station for 30 soles. 

The gate. Looks can be deceiving. They have a pretty nice area inside.

Now for the room. The room had no heating – they did mention that when I booked. I was here during winter so it was really cold! I asked for an extra blanket because it was so cold.

Lots of space for your luggage

Bathroom is spacious. The hot shower is for real, just blast the hot on full for a few minutes.

I strongly advise against doing your laundry during winter. The very difficult part is that the water that comes out of the sink is ice cold – like melted ice. Think of doing laundry with that. But I had no choice: I arrived at the lodge at midnight and all laundry services were closed. There’s a lot of laundry service in the area but they take a day to be returned. I was leaving very early after my second night so I had to do laundry when I arrived. Not fun. I hung my clothes to dry at their balcony. They did dry, after a full day.

The nice thing is that you have a supply of tea and  tea leaves hot water in a thermos so can make tea anytime. 

Wifi was very good.  

They also offer tours and the usual other services, but everything is outsourced. They have maps, but the detail and area of coverage are quite limited (when I was there). I made use of the map I got from Ecopackers in Aguas Calientes. 

The one annoying thing about this place is the bell: you pull it hard but it rights not as loud as you’d like. I really think they should replace the bell with an actual doorbell. In that way, people won't wait for ages outside the door. I think with a couple of improvements, the place can be really charming.

 

If you are here during winter, ask for an extra blanket. Or find a hotel with heating!