Hotels near Calle Mercaderes, Arequipa

This is a beautiful hotel with lots of wonderful features and situated in a great location. The staff were excellent and very hardworking and nothing was too much trouble for them. The massage ladies in the Spa were fabulous. The only reason I have given it 4* instead of 5* is because I got salmonella food poisoning from the chicken goujon meal we had in the restaurant on our last evening - ended up with me having to be hospitalised and on an IV line for 3 days. Please check your kitchen procedures as I don’t want anyone else to have to deal with this situation as it pretty much wiped me out for the rest of my trip including Machu Picchu which is a great shame.

Excellent attention, facilities and assistance in different areas such as to inform you of the points of interest by providing you with a city plan. In general, I understand that all the staff of the hotel have performed an excellent behaviour with us, providing various elements such as shuttle adapters or imprinting boarding cards; The rooms are very comfortable and comfortable. Like common spaces, with precise infusions to achieve better physical adaptability and avoid pains derived from the ”highness bad” called ”sorche” derived from the height over the level of the Arequipa sea. The establishment's decoration is very careful the combination of contributions from traditional buildings with completely updated elements.

Nice decor and styling in the rooms, large and comfortable bed (we had a private room just a bit back from the pool area). The inclusion of a fridge was a plus point. The cleaning staff were helpful and courteous. When we checked in, the guys working reception helped us up to the room with our luggage (I had been volunteering in Arequipa for 2 months prior so had a few bags). However, when I asked on our way out if they had anyone available to help take our luggage to the taxi, it was a hard “no ofrecemos ese servicio” 😕 So I guess it depends who’s working that day as to what level of service you get. The bar area around the pool was nice with lots of seating options to chill out, but the water in the pool was absolutely freezing and even cold water swimmers wouldn’t be in there much more than 10 minutes! I removed quite a lot of bugs during my swim, so a regular clean with a net wouldn’t go amiss. The worst aspect of this place was the obnoxiously loud and unrelenting music. I couldn’t even get peace and quiet in our private bathroom. I get that the poolside party is their vibe, but I really don’t think they need quite so many hours of it in their schedule. With retrospect, I’d have chosen a quieter hotel. Finally, we booked a massage. I thought it would be a nice way to round off our trip, the price was equivalent to about £30 GBP which I thought was a good deal. I’d had an excellent massage at Selina in Baños, Ecuador, so I was looking forward to it. Well, both my massage (hot stones) and the one my boyfriend had (regular massage) were so comically bad that we still joke about it 6 months later. I asked the masseuse in fluent Spanish 5 times and in a variety of different ways to really use a bit more pressure, but no…. the two of us spent an hour each being half-heartedly rubbed with oil by someone who clearly had received very little training and was unable to locate any knots, any areas of tension, anything. I actually left more tense than I went in! I did tell the reception so I sincerely hope they have recruited a new massage therapist. Overall, there are some benefits to Selina such as the relative proximity to the city centre whilst also having a pool. However, I wouldn’t rush back and didn’t find it quite as good as the other Selinas I’ve stayed in in Central and South America.

Excelente la habitación y su comodidad. El desayuno buffet bastante bueno 👍