Hotel San Augustin El Dorado, Cusco, Peru

Cuzco is the staging area for adventures to Machupicchu. A trek to Machupicchu involves taking a bus or taxi two to three hours from Cuzco to Ollantaytambo. This is followed by a train from Ollantaytambo to Aguas Calientes. Finally, another bus takes you up the mountain to the entrance to Machupicchu. While Machupicchu is often the final destination, it is Cuzco that was once the "navel" of the universe. There is plenty to see and do in Cuzco before beginning your trek to the Inca city in the sky.

During my trip to Peru, I stayed at several hotels. This helps facilitate the trek to Machupicchu. My stay in Cuzco was split into two parts. During the first half of my stay, I did some touring of the city and surrounding areas. My Cuzco visit included accommodations at a centrally located hotel called Hotel San Augustin El Dorado. The hotel is located in an older building that exudes charm. The hotel didn't have a modern feel, but it was comfortable and the staff were accommodating. This hotel also offers travelers the added benefit of storing the majority of their luggage during their trek to Machupicchu. This allowed my wife and I to travel with just backpacks, allowing us a much lighter burden during that portion of our trip.

I would recommend using an organized tour group for an adventure to Machupicchu. There are a lot of details involved in getting from Cuzco to your final destination. Having the safety net of a tour company can save you headaches later on. There are a plethora of tickets and admissions to purchase, as well as accommodations along the way. They also get you safely back and forth between locations with reliable drivers and escorts. I used a company called CMT Travel based out of Cusco. They picked us up at the airport and delivered us to the Hotel San Augustin El Dorado which was just a ten or fifteen minute ride.

When we arrived at the hotel, our reservations went flawlessly. Because my wife and I had been robbed earlier in our trip, we had not yet replaced our Immigration Visa stamp. Without this stamp, you will be assessed an eighteen percent sales tax at the hotels. The hotel checked us in with the understanding that we would provide the stamp once we obtained it from immigration. We were then seated in an upper lobby area where a staff member presented us with coca tea to help with altitude sickness. We declined, having taken a prescription for altitude sickness with us. The hotel keeps a large urn of this tea at the ready in the lobby area for guests to help themselves. We were given our room keys shortly thereafter.

After settling into our room, the tour company escorted us to the immigration office which is about a five minute walk from the hotel. The process of getting the immigration stamp was convoluted, but painless. The worst part was a lengthy line to pay the fee for the duplicate immigration stamp. Our tour company waited in line for us while we relaxed at the hotel. We finished with immigration just in time for a quick lunch before our afternoon tour began. We presented the documents to the hotel and were not assessed the additional taxes.

After completing our afternoon touring, we returned to the hotel to relax before departing the next day for the Sacred Valley. After sorting out the items we would be traveling with in our backpacks, we settled in to enjoy our accommodations. I was able to send a few emails using the free wi-fi and Skype my son back home. The wi-fi was fast enough to allow me to use Skype without any lag time. The room itself was on the small side, but comfortable. The bed was slightly harder than I like, but I slept well in it. Either I was tired, or it wasn't as hard as I first perceived. The bathroom had complimentary shampoo and conditioner, although not necessarily of a high quality. Overall, the room was more than adequate for our limited needs.

This hotel was an upgrade that we added to our package. By Cusco standards, this hotel is considered a four star hotel. Traveling in Peru, you will find numerous hostels and inexpensive hotels that offer the bare necessities. When you hit three stars, you start finding hotels more in line with what you would find in the United States. This upgrade included a full breakfast, which was exceptional. The breakfast included standard fare like fresh fruit, yogurt, breads, eggs, juices and coffee. In addition, we had fried chicken for breakfast. This seemed odd to me until I noticed "dinner" fare at the breakfast buffet in other hotels. The fried chicken was actually very good. Filling, too. The hotel also had a coffee called "coffee extract" which was a rich, deep coffee that turned almost chocolate with the addition of hot milk. It was an exceptional cup of coffee that may have been worth the upgrade by itself.

The rooms at Hotel San Augustin El Dorado run between $100 and $250 currently. Because it was "rainy season" our trip was considered off season. The hotel has an internet booking tool to facilitate reservations. The prices are in US Dollars. Checking rates further into the season, it appears that the pricing remains fairly stable into the peak season.

When my wife and I were ready to depart for the Sacred Valley, the concierge took our larger pieces of luggage and stored them in their storage room. We decided not to take our laptop, which was placed in a more secure location during our trek. We were provided claim checks to get our luggage back upon our return. We arrived back a few days later, collected our belongings, and settled in to another room at the hotel. Like the first room we stayed in, the accommodations were cozy.

Although Hotel San Augustin El Dorado is older, it possesses a subtle charm. The accommodations are comfortable, although small. The televisions have plenty of stations to choose from, to include a variety of English language stations. The rooms were clean, the staff was friendly and the location exceptional. The hotel is located just a few blocks from the central plaza with plenty of shopping and restaurants in short walking distance. The buffet style breakfast was a bonus. An exceptional breakfast that would easily run ten to fifteen dollars at a hotel in the United States. I would certainly stay at this hotel again, given the opportunity.

Some of the photos from our trip to Peru were accidentally deleted. The photos in this post are taken directly from the hotel website. They are an accurate representation of the hotel as I remember it.