Dignified and ancient, this hotel both benefits and suffers from its close proximity to the Plaza de Armas. The benefits come during the day when you are close to ATMs, the Peruvian Rail office for rail tickets to Machu Picchu, Starbucks, two Cathedrals and fine dining. At night, the poor acoustics and lack of sound control drag you, willingly or not, into the action at the Plaza de Armas with exploding fireworks and music echoing up the street to rock both you and the hotel. Bring earplugs and have a spot of cocoa-leaf tea available for free in the lobby. At night it will calm you and during the day it will fortify you and help you contend with the strenuous, high-altitude hiking around the city. It is not addictive and its health-benefits are legion. (Wikipedia; cocoa leaves)

This is a boutique hotel...it is centrally located on the noisy San Franciso Plaza; and it is an oasis. The rooms (away from the street) are cozy with steaming hot showers, decent internet connections, and yummy heavy andean blankets on the beds. The continental breakfast includes a variety of local juices, fruits, breads, and teas. The lobby serves as a tea & tv lounge. The staff is simply wonderful, the manager, Denny, and his team make every effort to communicate and serve. When our departure flight was cancelled at the last moment, they scrambled in order to find us rooms so that we'd have a place to stay the night. These were our third and fourth visits to this jewel, it won't be our last.

Pros:
-Felt Safe
-Great location
-Offered Triples
-Front desk was very nice and spoke English
-Offered a continental breakfast
-Gave us Cocoa tea upon arrival

Cons:
-Room was extremely dusty. Curtains had not been washed in a VERY VERY long time and we all sneezed all night long.
-The beds were very used and uncomfortable
-The bedding was very thin and used.
-The shower took 10 minutes to produce warm water
-Overpriced

We stayed here originally for their perfect central location on the San Francisco Plaza. We went back two more times in the same month because the hotel is impeccably clean, the service is above par, and the staff is wonderfully helpful and friendly. Our travel plans changed without notice, and the Amerinka was kind enough to maintain our reservations (without price change) and store our luggage until we could return. This is a boutique hotel, so it is unpretentious and service-oriented. There is a tea service in the main lobby which is just a brief introduction to the excellent services offered by this hotel. The prices are comparable, the rest of the experience is far above the standard for this city.