It's hard to know what to expect way out of Arequippa. But this Casa Andina is a lovely, romantic spot with private bungalow's, a roaring fire, music, great breakfasts (and other buffets that I didn't have time to try) and even its own observatory. Unfortunately, I only had one night, but the hotel itself could be a destination. Incredibly clean and appropriately decorated & appointed.

we had a clean room, simple, but comfortable. I ate in the restaurant while my friend slept off her altitude sickness. Overall it was warm when we needed it, clean, and nice looking.

We upgraded to this hotel for our 2 day Colca Canyon tour, thinking that the Casa Andina brand would guarantee us a bit of comfort. Unfortunately, that didn't turn out to be the case. I wouldn't consider myself very picky or particular when it comes to hotels. All that I want is cleanliness, the usual amenities and helpful and effecient staff. While the hotel itself looks quite nice, with nicely decorated rooms, a decent bathroom and nice common areas, I was quickly dispelled of this initial impression by several inadequacies.

Some members of the staff were incredibly inefficient. When they dropped off hot water bottles for each bed, they dropped off one for my friend's bed and nothing for mine. I tried to call the front desk, but the phone in my room didn't work (problem #1), so I had to go outside (as each room is a separate cabin) to go to the main building to request one. After requesting one, I waited in my room for at least half an hour, but no one showed up. I decided to go back to the main building to request it again. On my walk over, I saw a man hiding in the bushes (in the dark) eating a skewer of meat, carrying a hot water bottle. It was only after I asked him if the bottle was for my room that he gave it to me and indicated that he was a staff member. He clearly decided it was more important to stand around in the dark eating instead of doing his job. The other problem was that the hair dryer would stop working every few minutes, until it eventually stopped working altogether. I had to make another trip outside (my hair dripping wet) to go to the main building to get a new one because, of course, our room's phone still didn't work.

If there had only been one problem, I would have liked to give the hotel the benefit of the doubt, but that many problems in a one night stay can't be anything more than an indication of how poorly this place is run. Save your money and stay elsewhere.

Stayed in Casa Andina for our Colca Canyon trip. Rooms are pleasantly decorated although bit dark. Warmed up nicely when we put the heaters on and we appreciated the gesture of the "warming bottles" when we got back at night. Dinner was good and was accompanied by entertainment. Breakfast was so-so.My only niggle is that I had chosen this hotel because of the Observatory which I thought would be a added bonus, star gazing in such an extraordinary location. I checked for the timings of the sessions with the Receptionist and even rushed through dinner a bit so would be in Reception for 8pm. I sat there for 15 minutes and as no-one else seemed to have turned up I asked Reception again ( same guy) if there was a problem. He then told me there was no session that night as something was wrong with telescope. He had only given me times for the session about an hour before and it was not as if the hotel is large and teeming with guests. Could he not have made the connection between my asking about the Observatory and then sitting there for 15 minutes and thought to say something! Didn't even offer a hint of an apology. So staff pretty uninterested which I think comes from it being a chain with guests on very short-stays.