Quick Review: Hotel Casa Suyay - Lima, Peru

During my 'last busy day' in Lima (part I, part II, with part III to come), I decided that I did want a place to stash my luggage and maybe nap and shower before my late night flight back to la CDMX. So after my tour of Museo Pachacamac but before my chocolate workshop I scanned Booking.com for something close and inexpensive. I landed on Hotel Casa Suyay. It had solid reviews, was right in Miraflores, and would cost me ~$31 for the night. Deal.

It's right near Parque Kennedy & Parque 7 Junio, which was convenient for what I had on the agenda rest of the afternoon (a workshop at ChocoMuseo and some shopping at Inka Plaza).

Nice enough 'curb appeal' as you walk up to the entrance. This particular street within Miraflores appears to be a calm mix of residential, cafes, and light retail.

Decor is a version of rustic chic, though with definite bullfighting and taxidermy aspects that might be offensive to some. But the reception area is clean, nicely detailed, and they offered me a muña tea while I waited for my room to be available. Pleasant.

Room was about what you could expect for $31. Basic, with a view of a wall nicely painted to give the sense of greenery.

Bathroom was actually solid. Large. Older, but large.

My car picked me up around 7:30 I think, so I wasn't there later at night and obviously didn't stay over, so no idea what it's like to sleep there. I imagine it could be a solid budget option if you're just passing through for a night coming from / going to other parts of the country. I paid $31 for ~5 hours of luggage storage, a hot shower, and a short nap and was happy with my decision.

Update: found a couple shots of the street the hotel is on, which I took walking back from my ChocoMuseo activity.

Quick Review: Restaurant La Clave del Sabor 2 (Cusco, Peru)

After my early afternoon spin through Cusco's primary archeological sites, I dropped my gear at the hotel and headed out to meet with a potential partner. But I was semi-starving and had some time, so I ducked into the Centro Artesanal Cusco Paccha to check it out and see what I could rustle up.

It doesn't look particularly charming from the outside.

But inside it's full of colorful stalls selling all the various Peruvian souvenirs you could imagine. Plus some cool murals.

Reminded me of La Ciudadela here in la CDMX.

I wasn't here to shop, though. Was just aiming to find maybe a couple of empanadas para llevar, as that had been a fairly trustworthy grab-and-go staple so far in Peru. However as I was approaching this place and scanning the menu, the señora in charge spotted me and gave me her pitch.

No empanadas, but I tell you that simple ham, cheese, and aguacate sandwich plus some fried plantains with that spicy Peruvian answer to pico de gallo HIT THE SPOT. It was comfortable and delicious.

Felt good to sit for 5 minutes, watch the kids of the mercado run around playing, and enjoy a modest, tasty, and filling late lunch. Simple pleasures in life.

So if you find yourself in the mercado scanning the souvenirs, don't hesitate to stop for a quick bite at Restaurant Clave del Sabor 2. You won't regret it.

Quick Review: El Museo de la Papa (Machu Picchu Pueblo, Peru)

After a looong morning at Machu Picchu I cleaned up with a shower and headed out for what I was hoping would be a substantial and tasty meal to refuel. The night before I was strolling along Avenida Pachacutec (the main east/west street on the north side of the river, but not the one that runs right alongside the river) and thought it would be a nice place to eat / drink / people watch. So that's where I pointed myself. I was there around 2pm, which is maybe a tweener kind of time. Late for lunch, early for happy hour. So most places were quiet. I saw that the terraza at El Museo de la Papa was open and planted myself there, anticipating a pleasant lunch al fresco.

Service was not exactly friendly. I think my timing coincided with staff lunch, so I was intruding on their quiet/together time. But soon enough I had a refreshing lemonade in hand. (Side note: Peru knows how to make a good lemonade. Enjoyed many and multiple flavors during this trip).

(Note: deliberately did not crop out the lady wondering why I was getting the low POV on my lemonade shot).

Snapped a couple of shots of their attractive but empty interior while waiting for my food.

Maybe 10 minutes later, my burger arrived. Looked okay, not great. Maybe it's because I know how it tasted, but looking at it again now I can see it's overcooked. But those fries were pretty good with the house salsa.

Looking back at their menu, I see a handful of things that maybe would have turned out better.

Quesadillas. Burritos. Grilled Chicken. All sound better to me right now. But it shouldn't be too much to expect a nice, juicy burger, right? Disappointing. Maybe I just had bad luck or timing. If you want a drink on the terraza where you can people watch, perhaps with some light snacks, I'd say give El Museo de la Papa a try. If you want a good burger after hiking around Machu Picchu for 5 hours, maybe Mary's Burger would be the better choice.

Quick Review: Ponchos Peruvian Kitchen (Machu Picchu Pueblo, Peru)

Through a combination of walking around eyeballing places that looked interesting and verifying via Google Maps that any candidates had decent reviews, my colleague and I landed on Ponchos Peruvian Kitchen for an early dinner / very late lunch in Machu Picchu Pueblo. It turned out to be a very good call. Based on our experience they deserve their 4.8/5.0 rating.

You can find them on the north side of the river on the main north / south drag running through the town (Imperio de los Incas). It has a relatively small-ish interior, but it is sharp, well-lit, and comfortable. Floor to ceiling exterior glass wall lets in light and allows you to keep an eye on the outside action if you like.

Service was friendly and attentive. I forgot to snap pics of the menu, but luckily Isamarie Alma uploaded a couple in her google review, so I will borrow hers. They have a solid range of options, but for me the choice was clear: Choclo con Queso.

Was delicious. And while I was disappointed that they were out of the porter listed in their beer menu, the IPA was a fine acompaniment. I was very happy with my order.

My colleague is a more adventurous diner than I am (but then, most people are), and she went for the alpaca skewers.

If I'm being honest I wasn't paying close attention to her order, so I was a little surprised when the server came out and set them on fire.



Fun stuff. And for the record, they met with the approval of my foodie companion.

Toward the end of the meal this fella curled up at the feet of the couple dining next to us. Guessing it wasn't his first time there.

Incredibly, I am 99% certain I saw the same dog the next morning up outside the entrance to Machu Picchu.

To sum up: Ponchos Peruvian Kitchen is worth your time. Would recommend.

Quick Review: El Eden Boutique Hotel (Pátzcuaro, Michoacán)

Usually when we head out to Michoacán on one of our pottery runs we stay at Casa Encantada. During this last trip, however, we came out a little closer to actual día de muertos dates, and Casa Encantada was already booked by the time I got around to reserve our accommodations. This gave us the opportunity to try a new(ish) place that opened across the street from Casa Encantada in the last 2 or 3 years I think: El Eden Boutique Hotel.

I have held off on trying it for a few reasons:
* We like Casa Encantada
* Casa Encantada is normally priced lower than El Eden
* The rooms didn't appear to have much in the way of ventilation

However, given the circumstances our hand was forced a bit, so we stayed with them for 3 nights, from 10/28 - 10/31. On the whole, our stay was fine. I do not have any complaints. But I would still look to stay at Casa Encantada first, when it's available.

My takes on the key elements of our stay, with an eye toward comparing them against our standard (Encantada):

Service / attention - very good.
Communications through Booking.com were good and quick. The man who greeted us upon arrival, Rafael, was very helpful in allowing me to use their load/unload only parking space for two full days. He also procured a fan for us to use in the room. Anything else we needed or wanted during our stay, Rafa and the rest of the staff were there for us. Service at Encantada is great, too, but I'll rate this aspect a tie.

Room quality.
Solid, with some relative strengths and weaknesses. Bed was pretty comfortable, a bit softer than what we're used to at Casa Encantada. Bathroom was spacious, but the water pressure in the shower was not great. Maybe 5/10. Ventilation was indeed a concern. We had a deluxe room and it had one small window that opened up onto the interior courtyard. It helped a little bit, but I cannot imagine it would be great during warmer weather. Rafa provided us with a medium size fan, which was good for us. But the property really should consider ceiling fans.
Oddly I did not snag any pics of the room itself. But you can check out their website or see them on Booking.com and get an idea of what they offer. Overall the slightly more comfortable bed at Eden does not in my mind outweigh the superior shower and ventilation at Encantada.

Breakfast
Our first breakfast was served in the small, homey dining room, which was nice and cozy.

The next day we ate in the common area between reception and the rooms, which is nice but also a little cool.

Food was tasty and service was warm. But Encantada's dedicated and spacious breakfast / kitchen setting offers a more pleasant overall experience. Also, we noticed they use Talavera serverware from Puebla, rather than the local pottery from Capula. Odd choice. I'd think they would support the local artisans rather than pay the premium to bring pieces in from Puebla.

Common areas / design.
Eden is smaller than Encantada, which has a couple of well-designed common areas / courtyards featuring plenty of plants and artwork, providing an open oasis-like feel. Eden's design is well-done, too, but by the nature of the property it is darker, more closed, and includes a lot of religious artwork and symbols (I didn't make that 'Eden' connection until seeing the pieces all around the hotel).

They put forward some great, creative work in decorating for the holiday. We witnessed the work in progress and saw the full picture come into focus during our stay.

Both Eden and Encantada offer elements of a traditional, colonial style property where clear attention is paid to the details. While I prefer the layout and aesthetic of Encantada, I'm sure others will have more appreciation for Eden.