My girlfriend I stayed and Chincana Wasi for a total of 4 nights, either side of our Inca Trail Tour. Due to the time of year, the hotel was very quiet, however the staff were exceptionally friendly and helpful. We arrived fairly late, however the receptionist insisted on showing us a variety of rooms around the hotel to ensure we were happy! He also then advised that he could arrange takeaway food from a couple of restaurants in town(proper restaurants, not generally takeaways) in case we didn´t want to go out again. All the staff spoke an adequate amount of English and were more than enthusiastic to understand your requests!

The rooms are of a good size and cutely decorated. The views of Cusco from the front of the hotel are excellent. The bathrooms are adequate and once you leave the powerful shower running for a few minutes there is limitless hot water. The central courtyard is really nice, however a little chilly this time of year. There are heaters available for the rooms (AT NO EXTRA COST) and the internet is pretty much free.

The only slight downside of the hotel is it´s location. It´s a 5 minute walk up a steep hill from Nazarena Plaza (and the main Plaza de Armes), which when you first get to Cusco is a little tough due to the altitude. However it is a good way to quickly get aclimatised and a very very safe area. The location is however EXCELLENT for the magnificent Sacsaywaman Inca ruins, Saint Cristobel Church and San Blas Plaza which are all very close by.

Overall a really nice stay and we are very grateful to all of the staff at Chincana Wasi for the excellent service and friendliness.

Hostel cold roof leaking floors wet on arrival No heaters available for rooms .Rooms moldy smelling. Bottled water promised never provided
Most disturbing a thank you note written to management thanking them for nice accomodations signature forged in my name concerning for passport security

Having stayed in Lima for quite sometime, before arriving in Peru, and going on a trip that involved "roughing it" i thought this hotel was very good. There was a group of 14 teenager (16 and 17) and 5 adults, and none of us had major complaints. unfortunately i got altitude sickness, and was sick in bed for a full day. I did not have nay complaints what so ever. the hotel was very cold however, but we were able to rent a heater for about a dollar American a day , and it was very worth it.
I found the bed to very comfy, and the rooms to be very nice and cute. I loved the character of the hotel and found it to be a good expirence, i loved the way the hotel looked, and i especially loved the little hidden sun room up on the top floor, it was a very good spot to write in my travel journal. I found the rooms to be very clean, and the hotel was very accomadating with giving those who were sick extra towels, cups of tea, soup and bread. Our group even made close friends with one of the younger hotel workers. My only complaint was that they were doing minor construction on one room, so you could hear hammering etc. in the morning, and there were also some spiders, but it was peru, and considering how clean it was it didnt bother me. I was in on room however and got moved, but that first room i was in was the wrost of all the rooms our large group got, it was very damp and cold, and had no natural light. But other then that the hotel was a very beautiful exciting expirence and had tons of charm and character

I book this hostel for a group of 18. I visited the hostel ahead of time and meet with the owner. She promised, in writing, as part of the total charges: Airport transport, welcome drink and clean rooms with heaters. I got none, zero, of the above. The owner would not accept credit cards and I needed to pay in cash prior to arriving.

When my group arrived we had to get our own transportation to the hostel, we had to pay for our Pisco Sours, the rooms were dirty, some smelled of mold and on the first night we ran out of hot water after the three showers. The sheets were so thin that you could read the mattress label (see photo). I could go on about the dirty carpets in the rooms that were tacky when you walked on them, or about the very heavy smell of cigarette smoke in four of the rooms. To make matters worse, on the second day we ran out of water - none for 36 hours. When I sought to change to another hostel, the owner refused to refund any of the money. We left anyway. Now I am pressing charges via the Peruvian agency INDECOPI. A very bad experience.

There are other good, inexpensive ($20-$30 US) hostels in Cusco. Avoid this one. Try La Posada de los Andes on Av. Pardo - Clean and good service. www.posadadelosandes.com