Name: Casa De Dina
Address: Urbanizacion Las Orquideas Asvea C 3 054 Arequipa,Urbanizacion Las Orquideas, Arequipa, Arequipa, Arequipa, Areq 01, Peru
Rating: 10

Smoking areas

Garden

Terrace

Patio

General

Cable TV

Wardrobe/Closet

Rooms

Common kitchen

Meals

Free Wi-Fi

Internet

Airport transportation

Transfer

Spanish

English

French

Languages Spoken

No parking

Parking

Beach/pool towels

Pool and beach

Business center

Business

Pets Not Allowed

Pets

Location

At the hotel

Rodriguez Ballon International Airport

Casa De Dina

Arequipa

child-bed

child-bed-fee

external-private-bathroom

private-bathroom

shared-bathroom

10-beds

11-beds

12-beds

13-beds

14-beds

15-beds

16-beds

17-beds

18-beds

19-beds

2-beds

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3-beds

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32-beds

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38-beds

39-beds

4-beds

40-beds

5-beds

6-beds

7-beds

8-beds

9-beds

king-bed

queen-bed

limited-time

lounge

treatment

no-window

bay-view

bosphorus-view

canal-view

city-view

courtyard-view

garden-view

golf-view

harbour-view

inland-view

lake-view

land-view

mountain-view

ocean-front

ocean-view

oceanside

panoramic-view

park-view

partial-ocean-view

partial-sea-view

partial-view

pool-view

river-view

sea-front

sea-view

street-view

sunrise-view

sunset-view

water-view

with-view

annex

basement

main-building

1-bedroom

2-bedrooms

3-bedrooms

4-bedrooms

5-bedrooms

6-bedrooms

not-guaranteed

wired-internet-access

smoking

sauna

duplex

safe

mini-bar

breakfast-for-1

breakfast-for-2

pets-allowed

wi-fi

kitchen

Dins is a very hospitable host, and especially welcoming to kids. However, we unwittingly planned our trip to Arequipa to coincide with their huge mining convention and this enables every hotel to quadruple its prices for that week! So we paid an unbelievably enormous amount for 2 very average rooms, one of which just had 2 single beds and a desk, no room for much else and the beds were very uncomfortable.
Dina apologised for the price, yet still charged it. I would have given more stars if it had been better value.

Pity about price

We took a taxi and had to ask someone as we couldn't tell from the outside where it was. Dina wasn't there when we arrived but we were welcomed by another lovely lady who showed us our room. Dina arrived the next day and she was very very helpful. She accompanied us to the bus terminal and looked for the cheapest bus to our next destination. We then drove together to a lovely restaurant where she left us. 

The location is good. We usually walked to to the centre (~20min).

She was very helpful and gave us some advices for our travels. We only had 2 nights at Dina’s but would have enjoyed staying there longer. Gracias otra vez, Señora Dina.

Great host and lovely house

We were staying for 4 nights at the Casa de Dina while in Arequipa. It was by far the most enjoyable stay during our holidays in Peru. We were given very helpful advice for the city and its surroundings. Even with my very limited Spanish skills, I was able to communicate with little effort and thanks to the patience of Dina I learned a lot of Spanish during my stay.
The location is within a 20min walk to the city center, but for 5-6 PEN we took taxis most of the time.
The hospitality was overwhelming and I will definitely consider coming back on my next holidays to Peru.

An authentic and comfortable experience

I stayed at Casa de Dina with my girlfriend in early April at the end of a 2.5 month journey through South America. It was one of the best places we stayed the entire trip. Dina was wonderful - warm, pleasant to talk to, and a very helpful guide to the area. She even came to meet us at the bus station when we arrived (we had to pay for her taxi to get there, but it was nonetheless very helpful as finding her place could be difficult the first time). When we went on a 2 day trek to Colca Canyon, Dina made us an amazing home-cooked Peruvian meal on our return, which was complimentary! We both speak spanish, which made conversation easier, and we enjoyed several long conversations with Dina about various topics including Peru and the region. As for the accomodation, we found the house to be very clean and comfortable, and the showers were great with good water pressure and plenty of hot water (some of the best showers in all of South America)

Travelers should be aware that this property is a bit outside the city center. We walked to the city center two days in a row and found the walk to be enjoyable, but it takes about 25-30 min. There are good food options closer by, however. A taxi to the central plaza only costs a few soles and takes 5-10 minutes depending on traffic. Casa de dina is also relatively close to the bus station, making transfers in and out pretty easy.

Like home

I found Dina's House through a promotion she was running on TripAdvisor. (By the way, before I start saying all of the good things about this place, I should mention my only non-positive experience.  I saw a price of 45 soles per night on what I thought was her website, http://www.housingperu.com/casadedina/ .  I emailed two days ahead to book the room, then she told me that the price would be 60 soles instead -- not including the TripAdvisor discount.  But don't let that discourage you... just check the price ahead.  Dina is a gem!!)

My great experience started when she met me after an all-night bus ride from Cusco.  [By the way, avoid SuperCiva "deluxe" buses with "camas" ("beds")!  I'll try to write a separate review/warning.]  The bus company couldn't tell me when the bus would arrive in Arequipa, so I told her I guessed it would be before 9 AM.  Dina found a rough time, she and her husband took a taxi to the bus station (before 6 AM!), and they met me as I got off the bus with a sign showing my name.  I was touched and amazed.  They even paid their cab fare to the bus station (I only paid for the ride back).

Dina and Raymundo have raised a family of their own, so they aren't young in age, but they are full of energy and caring.  When we reached their home at 7 AM, they made breakfast for me (even though I wouldn't be paying for my place until that night).  They let me into my room and I took a shower (with excellent hot water).  Then they surprised me again.  I wanted to walk to a bank to get money, and to a drugstore for medicine (I got sick on the bus ride, probably from the awful sandwich).  Raymundo said he'd walk me to the bank... the shopping center is near there.  I waited too long and he had to leave, but Marco walked me there... ten or fifteen minutes' walk away from the home... then said he'd wait while I did my shopping.  I thanked him and said I could make it myself (I'm an independent traveler), but I was touched by his generosity.

That wasn't anywhere near all that they did to make me feel at home.  The next day, Raymundo walked me up a different street -- which includes a shortcut through a narrow passage -- and showed me the way to walk directly to the city center.  When there were no other guests for me to talk with, Dina sat with me at breakfast.  My next-to-last night, they cooked a special dinner... and they and their housekeeper/cook joined me for the meal.  Their generosity and hospitality goes on and on!  I'll spend a total of five nights here, but I wish it could be five weeks.

Now some practical notes:

- First, there's little English spoken.  (Maybe, if my Spanish weren't fairly good, they would have spoken more English?)  I believe Dina speaks French; she and a guest from Quebec traded French words, and she has a French Lonely Planet guidebook in the lounge.

- Second, though the home is on a quiet street, there are dogs in the neighborhood that bark sometimes during the night... if that would bother you, bring earplugs or a white noise machine.  (Tip: search the Internet for: white noise mp3.  You'll find cheap or free soundtracks that will have you drifting off if you keep an earbud in your ear.  This also works great on buses playing noisy videos when you're trying to sleep.)

- Third: the home isn't on maps of the city center, but I found it on a Google Map -- at http://goo.gl/maps/Jkfas -- it's the home in Urbanizacion La Orquidea C-3, NOT the "La Casita de Dina" in San Isidro F 1 Vallecito. My cab driver didn't seem to know where that address is.  So, if you take a cab, bring Dina's home and mobile phone numbers with you (so you or the driver can call for directions) and/or tell the driver that the street is along Los Incas, just north of Dolores -- the second left turn north of Dolores.  Or have Dina book the cab.  Printing out that Google Map above (the section around Dina's House, at least) could be a big help too.  Finally: when you check in, look for the "1988" above the entrance gate.  (The home was built then, Raymundo told me.)  It's a great help if you don't remember the home.  (Peruvian homes tend to be behind tall walls, so many of them look about the same until you're inside.)

- Fourth: her Wi-Fi worked great.  It was even strong enough to use the Wi-Fi calling on my (USA) T-Mobile Android phone.  (No one seems to have heard of this.  You use your regular mobile phone, your regular phone number, and you dial as if you were in the US.  It counts minutes... but I have an unlimited plan, so it's basically free.)  I also bought a SIM card from Movistar for my unlocked US phone.  There are Peru phone details at:

http://www.tripadvisor.com/Travel-g294311-s605/Peru:Telephones.html

Dina and Raymundo were so kind and welcoming that they felt like my Peruvian family.  I can't wait to come back!

Casa De Dina

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