La Casa de la Abuela - Reviews and Deals - Huancayo

¨Grandmother´s House¨ really does feel like a home if you have the luck to stay here longer than a night or two. What makes this place special is the care and attention that has obviously gone into the hostel and the personable staff. Staff is probably the wrong word; Abuela may be suffering from Alzheimer´s and no longer does the cooking due to this, but she´s always cheerful and smiling and ready to laugh. Nilda works mostly during the week as receptionist/cook and is happy to learn English; both her and Gloria (her sister) cook simple but tasty meals and manage to run the hostel between them while looking after their young kids (1.5 and 3 years old).

The hostel isn´t huge but it´s a big house, old, wooden floored and creaky. It´s cold at night but the beds are comfy enough and the rooms are warm. Lots of common areas, including a place to watch cable TV or DVDs, a fusball table and small bar, the big dining table and the pleasant outdoor eating area make this a place for meeting people. And not to forget about the animals; you will meet Kiko, the big grey dog, his playful and cheeky son, Kikito, Becko the black cat, Kintarro the fat green parrot and the most recent addition ¨gatito¨ (yet to have a proper name), a gorgeous grey and white kitten who´s a sucker for a warm lap.

Breakfast is included in the accommodation price and includes fruit salad with yoghurt (usually papaya, banana, pineapple and sometimes mandarin), very good strong coffee or tea, and little pieces of bread with butter and jam (maracuya and some other fruit; sweet, orange and tasty). Other meals I´ve had at La Casa include lamb stew, lomo saltado (a sort of beef, tomato, onion and potato stirfry), pasta, soups and of course potatoes and rice. They will let you use the fridge to store your stuff and you can also use the kitchen.

The one minor gripe about the hostel is the irregularity of hot water. Upstairs has the hottest shower (the one on the right) but only in the morning and night, and personally, it´s rather erratic, but always hot at 10-11pm at night (when it´s freezing outside). Other than that,  I have to echo the sentiments of many of the travellers I met at La Casa - it´s a lovely place to stay and relax for a few days, and a good place to base yourself when exploring Huancayo and its surrounds.