Walk through the door an immediately onto the main square of this small, laid back provincial town. Buzzing with activity all day and all night. The hotel was comfortable with all the amenities. Staff very friendly and accommodating. For great views go to the roof (and make use of the swimming pool if you have the time). Take tea out on the balcony and watch the world go by. Recommended

This is one of the pricer hotels in Arequipa and right on the Main Plaza. The views from the room were amazing and made the higher cost of the rooms worth it. The rooms themselves were well maintained, very clean and comfortable. The bathrooms were also clean and mold free and had bdays. Our experience in the hotel was very good and we found the receptionist very helpful when we had problems with our bus tickets. However it is essential to book in advance for a room with a plaza view and confirm that the room you will get has the plaza view - we saw many people being told by the front desk that these rooms were not available when they checked in and requested them, most of whom were very annoyed. The nicest thing about the hotel was the breakfast restaurant which overlooks the plaza. The terrace is pleasant but nothing to write home about - the pool is slightly larger than a kids wading pool so this is not the place for a spa retreat.

This place was awful. The people at the front desk seemed to take fierce glee in answering every request we had with "no, there are no such rooms available" without checking anything first. For example, "room with a view?" NO "uhh.. we requested a matrimonial bed" NO (this despite the fact that I requested it when I made the reservation on Sonesta's own website) .

The rooms are nasty dingy affairs -- and at these prices (for Peru) the only worthwhile parts were the balcony where we had breakfast (overlooking the plaza), and the fact that their hot water was reliable.

The food was mediocre and on our final night (separated from the first two nights by a trip to Colca Canyon) they tried to charge us for breakfast! This despite the fact that both internet reservations (for before and after CC) were made in the identical fashion. As usual, the answer from the front desk was "this is how your reservation was made". After talking to the reservations people at Lima they decided not to charge us, but what a mess!!

Don't do it! Don't stay here, you will most definitely regret it. There are so many nice hotels with great service in Peru -- after spending time at those, this one was just unacceptably awful.

We stayed for one night at the end of July 2007. The location is excellent being right on the main square and the restaurant/bar balcony is the perfect place to watch life in Arequipa with it's view over the sqaure and the Cathedral.
The breakfast was very good and on arrival we were given a voucher for a complimentary drink at the bar.
Our room was a bit disappointing in terms of location as it overlooked the kitchens and the room tended to smell of the food being cooked. The room itself was comfortable and very clean. The bath was a rectangular tiled structure, more like a paddling pool, therefore, not the most comfortable of baths.
There is internet access, for which there is a small charge.