HOTEL REVIEW: Cost Del Sol Wyndham Airport Hotel, Jorge Chavez International Airport, Lima, Peru

Introduction

Let me just say, that as a rule, I hate airport hotels. There are few exceptions, one being the Pullman at Brisbane Airport. So, I tend to avoid stays at airports as much as possible. This stop-over between Rio in Brazil, and Cuzco in Peru was unavoidable. Given the flight times available, our travel agent could not find a way to get us between these two cities without spending a night at this airport hotel.

Our stay here was brief, but not without an incident of the bathroom variety, as you will read later.

Booking & Price

Our stay was part of a package that our travel agent had organised, so the price listed below is an approximation. I checked the room types and bedding arrangements on the hotel website, but I’m sure that our room was bigger than indicated. See what you think from the pictures below

Details

Stay: 7 March 2019
Stars: 4
Room: Standard Double Room (what we booked)
Size: 25 sqm (270 sqf) – I think it was larger
Bed: Queen
Per Night Average: ~AU$200
Address: Av. Elmer Faucett S N, Aeropuerto Jorge Chavez, Lima
Phone: +511 711 2000
Web:www.wyndhamhotels.com/wyndham/lima-peru/wyndham-costa-del-sol-lima-airport/overview

Location & Arrival

The hotel is located literally on the other side of the road from the airport.

We arrived late in the evening, tired, but not emotional due to the complete lack of alcoholic beverage service on our flight between Rio and Lima. We were meant to be met by our on-ground agent from setours – but we somehow missed him at the airport arrivals gate, or in the hotel foyer. He met up with us later in the bar, having phoned us in our room. Brownie points for not giving up, even this late at night.

History

This, the only hotel within the airport was built in 2007 and refurbished in 2014. It has 192 rooms and suites and is surrounded by a car park on three sides, with the Airport on the fourth. The hotel is directly connected to the airport via an ‘air’ bridge which links to the second floor of the hotel.

There were only two guest lifts, but we never had a problem calling one, although we did have to share them with luggage and porters.

Check-in

Check-in was extremely efficient, as you would expect from an airport hotel. Identity verification, credit card validation, a signature and we were on our way to our room on level 5 pretty quickly.

We caught the lift opposite reception up to the 5th floor and headed right, and right again down the corridor. Our room, 502 was located at the very end.

The Room

Now, I have accused a hotel of having Ikea accents before, well this hotel belongs to the same genre.

Our room had a kind of entrance foyer, with wardrobes to the right, and the main room to the left, with TV and desk area at the hard left wall. There were a number of plugs at desk height, and also a coffee machine, and laminated room service menu.

All the essentials were there, including a proper office chair at the desk, but somehow the design didn’t pull everything together. Maybe it was the black and white theme, and the almost lack of any colour other than in the picture above the desk.

Bedroom

There was something about this room that was completely unwelcoming. I don’t know whether I can quite put my finger on it, but maybe it was the white, white walls contrasting with the dark wood and grey striped carpet. The contrast was somehow harsh and unwelcoming. The wall lights instead of bedside lamps didn’t help, not to mention those mini-pillows and a queen size bed rather than the King bed we are used to.

The carpet, if not actually carpet squares, gave off a very carpet square vibe. Carpet squares just scream ‘Lux’ don’t you think?

Mini-Bar

There wasn’t a minibar to speak of. Just this coffee machine and hot drink fixings and instructions. Still, I suppose, it’s very much a sip-and-go kind of overnight hotel room being at an airport and all.

The room service one page menu contained quite a range from Ceviche to salads and past. Perfectly adequate for the one night diner.

Wardrobe

The wardrobe was at the right of the entrance, and with 5 doors, apeared much larger than it in fact was. Still, it had everything required including my favourite kind of anti-theft coathangers. Mind you, we weren’t going to be unpacking in this room, having sorted ourselves out with just a change of clothes in our carry-on. We are seasoned travellers after all.

The Bathroom

The bathroom was tiny, but not perfectly formed. It had a shower over bath, which is again, not one of my favourite things. Having said that, it had all that was required – on the surface . . .

The main issue with the bathroom, was the blocked and consequently overflowing toilet. This happened close to midnight after we returned from a drink and snack in the bar. It was unpleasant, but I must say, deftly handled by the engineering team after a quick call to reception. The engineer came armed with a stack of towels, which was at once very comforting (fresh towels!) and at the same time very disturbing (are we talking mopping up overflow?).

With that drama over, we finally went to bed, with a functioning toilet, and a towel re-stocked bathroom ready for the morning.

Those tiles – first they say ‘contemporary’ and then they jast say ‘also-ran’. I think I prefer your basic white squares.

Simple single basin with hairdryer and bottled water.

Amenities

The amenities were at least boldly labelled. If I had a penny for every time the writing on the amenities bottles was too small to read without my glasses, and I mixed up the shampoo with the body wash or the conditioner – I would be a rich man!

That confusion was not going to happen with this set of unctions. Firstly because there was no body wash, or separate conditioner (who doesn’t love a combined shampoo and conditioner!) and secondly because of that very readable large, bold type.

The soap, unfortunately, had that chalky quality, which I find unpleasant, but which I think is meant to somehow indicate ‘organic’ or ‘natural’ but just reminds me of ‘Solvol’ for when your hands were really dirty. Wash your hands, Jeffrey, with the Solvol, Jeffrey.

Public Areas – Bars, Restaurants & Gyms

After settling into our room, we headed for the bar, and met up with out on-ground tour representative, who handed over the paperwork for the next leg of our South American adventure.

We got through a couple of gin & tonics in this moodily lit, but almost deserted bar area. Again, perfectly well designed but somehow unfriendly.

We would have a little over 12 hours here in the hotel before our next flight left for Cuzco at midday the next day.

Breakfast

The breakfast was actually the highlight of the stay. I think I was expecting a much less extensive spread than we received. we hit the large restaurant area about 9am, and things were relatively quiet, with all breakfast options still available.

There was a good selection of coffee, chocolate, teas and juices to kick off the meal.

The pictures below basically take you around the breakfast spread, from cereal to fruit, cold collation . . .

. . . milks and yoghurts . . .

Hot foods through to fruit, salad, jams and preservers . . .

. . . to cheese spreads and . . .

. . . cold meats, and cakes, bread rolls, and pastries . . .

. . . and finally breads, toaster and more rolls.

It was a comprehensive breakfast, suitable for keeping us fed and watered until the next part of our journey through to the heady altitude of Cusco.

2PAXfly Takeout

Look, I have stayed in worse airport hotels, but this example of the genre would not be my first pick if I was choosing on the basis of room comfort. It was extremely convenient to the airport, being just across the road, wasn’t ridiculously expensive, and bar the blocked toilet incident, worked smoothly, with friendly staff.

It’s other great advantages were a good sized bar, and an excellent breakfast.

We took our time over breakfast before heading back to the Jorge Chávez International Airport to embark on the next phase of our South American adventure – onwards to Cusco, the Sacred Valley, and Machu Picchu.