Hotel Alegria Nasca

This is a three star hotel, so don't expect giant rooms or luxury. That said, we found this to be a very nice hotel. Our room was very clean, comfortable, a/c worked, wi-fi excellent. There is a nice breakfast, and lunch and dinner are available in an attractive seating area by the pool. Most reviews mention it is opposite the bus station, but more interesting is that if you turn right towards the main square you can walk to a dozen restaurants, convenience stores and pharmacies in five minutes. We tried two of the restaurants for dinner and they were good and remarkably good value. This is a good base to see the Nasca area - which has a lot more to offer than the lines and you can easily spend a few days here and not get bored.

We arrived by bus at 10 in the evening after a tiring 10-hour drive - luckily, the hotel is right across from the station. The staff barely glanced at us, saying neither hello nor anything else as we dragged our luggage into the reception. When they finally noticed us, the welcome was: "Both your passports, please!" We had asked for twin beds but got a double bed. The room was uncomfortably hot and smelled of excrement. The curtain was so thin that the room was fully illuminated at 5 in the morning. Breakfast was decent enough, with both fruit and scrambled eggs, but the buffet closes at 8:30 - and you can only eat the food off tiny doll plates and doll cutlery; probably to prevent guests from getting full.

Clean and quiet with a good breakfast. The pool is nice but not enough chairs around it. Very well situated, 1 minute walk from the bus terminal and ±7 minutes walk from Plaza de Armas. Reception open 24/7.

Summary: a comfortable sleep is all I wanted for my one night in Nazca and this hotel delivered. The good: The room: A comfortable bed is available, I had a great nights sleep here. A hot, high-pressure shower is also available to wash the sand off you from all your local adventures. Check-Out: After checking out, staff kindly stored my luggage and allowed me to wait in the hotel common areas and pool area until my bus came later that evening. I was also allowed to return to my room after checking out to have a shower, as I got absolutely covered in sand hiking Cerro Blanco - this gesture and flexibility was appreciated. The bad: Internal windows: it's a bit confronting that most rooms have two windows that face out in to the common hallway. This means anyone walking past can see in to your room. There are also no 'black out' curtains, meaning if you draw the curtain and turn the lights on, people can still see in. Conclusion: I have zero reason to ever return to Nazca, but if I did, I would have no problem staying here again.