Sometimes I need to be smarter while traveling. I must consider the area when pushing the limits of what constitutes a quality hotel. The pictures online may look perfect, it can get great reviews, and be in an excellent area, yet I am still irate during the stay. This was the case for the Second Home Peru, in Lima. Google said it was a 3-star hotel which is usually suspect, especially in a foreign country. Then I read the reviews and people were blown away by this hotel. On paper it seemed to have everything I could want. As you may have guessed this review of Second home Peru in Lima Peru will show how looks can be deceiving.
What seemed like a beautiful establishment, turned out to be somewhat of a nightmare. As mentioned, it had all that I could need or so I thought. A beautiful view of the ocean, located in a great neighborhood, and it looked unique. Add to that the glowing endorsements from other visitors and I thought I hit a home run. Especially given the price of about $80 per night. Turns out I wasn’t even playing baseball. I cannot recommend Second Home Peru, regardless of any positives, it was a bad hotel and took away from my comfort.
Maybe I was rusty, I usually do better at picking living arrangements when traveling. I was pretty much 0-3 in terms of hotels in Peru, but I think Second Home Peru was my worst choice. It didn’t have to be that way. Let me describe my experience in this review of Second home Peru, in Lima Peru
Good Aspects of Second Home Peru
I would be lying if I said this hotel was all bad. There were certainly things to love about this place. Second Home Peru was like dating a beautiful woman who was revealed to be crazy. She will win you over, but then you catch her boiling your rabbit. Ok not that bad, but close. The first positive thing about this hotel is the location. The Barranco neighborhood is by far my favorite area of Lima. Second Home Peru was in the heart of this area.
This neighborhood is like a clean SoHo with dozens of good restaurants and bars. It was just fun with a good vibe. Personally, I liked it better than Miraflores, but that is just me. Maybe it isn’t exactly what you expected when thinking of Peru. So what? You get a great experience all the same. The West Village is probably not what people expect when they go to New York, but it is the best area in the city… same concept. It is also close to the beach, which is nice.
The Water
I already told you this, but Second Home Peru, Lima Peru was right on the water. At least in sight, you are 200 ft higher than the ocean (but stairs are near). For a coastal city it was hard for me to find a lot of hotels with an ocean view. Even more so with a balcony. This is due to the ridiculously steep drop off from the city to the coast. If you read my blog before you know that I love a good balcony, and Second Home Peru had a great one. This turned out to be more of a curse than a blessing, but more about this later.
The Art
No review of Second Home Peru, in Lima Peru could be complete without mentioning the amazing art. The original owner was a famous artist in the city and the grounds are built like a beautiful museum. Besides a balcony lover, I am also somewhat of an art junkie. I am not an expert by any means, but I do enjoy it. I think it is safe to say that this hotel had the best art I have come across outside a museum.
Every area of the hotel was filled with something beautiful. The artist is extremely talented and versatile. The grounds had everything including paintings and sculptures. I have attached some pictures to drive the point home, but you get the idea, the place is gorgeous… on the outside of your room. It was also very quiet (also on the grounds of the hotel only), which was nice. You would think with all these great attributes I would be writing a glowing review. Such a peaceful surreal environment what can possibly go wrong? A lot! Things went off the rails as soon as we walked in.
My Experience in Second Home Peru
I was already in a bad mood. I spent five days in Cusco, and if you read this article about Cusco, you know I hated it. The first leg of our trip in Peru was spent in Lima and after a rocky start, we had a lot of fun in the city. So, leaving Cusco and heading to the Second Home Peru in Lima was like a new beginning. Not even a homicidal taxi driver could ruin this part of the trip, or so I thought.
Pulling up to the hotel, it is a little confusing on how to get in, but I figure it out, ring a bell and there you go. The owner (who was really the son of the actual owner, his more successful father) opens the door. He looks at me like I eat babies for fun. I ask him in Spanish if he spoke English. This enraged him further. “Yes, I speak English” he snarls. Maybe it was rude of me, if it was, it was unintentional. The fact that 50% of the time the person DIDN”T speak English might have been the reason I asked. So instead of assuming he did I thought I would start off in their native language.
I apologized and said, sorry it was a long journey from Cusco…I am met with an obnoxious “I KNOW”. OK, so I will not talk to you. My partner (at the time) decided to look around at all the beautiful art. Another curt “stay right here, don’t move” happens. F*ck this guy. I felt like he wanted us out of there as soon as we walked in.
The Room
Ok, this guy is an arse in every sense of the word. Doesn’t matter, at least I won’t be in a hot room like I was in Cusco. I need sleep and food. Between the latitude and cave of a room I was in in that city I was never comfortable. We are taken to our room; the setup is weird as hell. The bathroom is hovering over the bedroom and is open. Not to be crass, but you can hear every “sound” coming from this area. As many of you know the food in Peru only encourages these noises (and frequently). I need more privacy in the bathrooms of Peru, not less. It was also equipped with the little garbage next to the toilet, this country hates me.
The guy showing us the room leaves and I am left to explore. First thing I do is look at that view, it is a great view yes, but the road beneath is friggin loud. This problem will become more profound later that night. At least we have air circulation, let’s see how this A/C works.
Well, that’s the rub isn’t it; I find no air condition in the room. It was not very hot outside; I was convinced it would be fine. As you might have guessed it was not… getting back to the room after another trying Peruvian day (in which I was spit at, but that is another story), we just needed to sleep.
Sleep at the Second Home Peru (or lack thereof)
I would have not been able to have grown up in an era without AC, because I need to regulate my temperature Lucky, we have this great door to keep open to cool the room down. Of course, the summer near the beach, you get a pleasant array of flying insects. To make matters worse I had raided a local grocery store earlier, passing out with some juice on the table and am welcomed to some more guests. Ants, everywhere…I hate ants. These guys got there so fast it made me wonder if it was their room to begin with.
So now we have ants everywhere (I killed a lot of those fuckers) and flying bugs galore, I guess it is better than the heat. Yet it was still hot. What is funny is on the beach below the bar plays music until the wee hours of the night. If not the bar, then people in the parking lot. Combined that with ridiculously loud traffic where locals honk like they get paid by the beep and it is hard to sleep with the door open. Hell, it was hard to sleep with the door closed. Needless to say, given the above my review of the Second Home Peru in Lima Peru is a poor one. How can I give a hotel a good review when I could not even sleep?
To Recap
For those of you who need a score keeper, yes, a beautiful hotel. That is about it, we have a nasty owner, a hot room that is noisy and there are bugs everywhere. Add to that the extremely unfortunate design of the room and I hated this place. It was just not comfortable. That is it. At the end of the day, above all else, a room needs to be at least basically comfortable. If I am waking up tired, I have no need for the hotel.
There were other things that bothered me. Like the fact that we were being glared at by the owner most of the trip. Or that it mentioned a breakfast, I am sure some people got one, but I was left going to a place outside the hotel (which was actually great, probably ant free also). Lastly, to kick us in the arse as we are leaving, while packing up my bags at 3:00am there is an Earthquake. Not the fault of the Second Home Peru… or was it! Nothing like your room shaking while on the side of a steep cliff. A great way to cap off a cluster fuck. The picture above is my room from the beach below.
Conclusion: Review of Second Home Peru, in Lima Peru
A beautiful hotel and great location can’t make up for an uncomfortable stay with a less than accommodating staff (well owner, the rest of the staff was OK). It is a shame, a few tweaks and an exterminator and that place would be top notch. When you wake up tired and pissed from your hotel stay it is not a good feeling.
