I SWEAR previously LIM has a lounge listed in the star alliance lounge finder, it also makes sense that AV would operate a lounge. Today when I checked, nada. I've been through LIM before, but I didn't try and access any lounges. Anyone got a heads up for me?

What airline are you flying? There is a lounge in both international and domestic. Both are Priority Pass lounges. The international lounge gets very crowded late in the evening when many of the long haul departures are and Priority Pass customers are often told to wait until a certain number of people leave. Usually though if you have an invite from an airline you're still allowed in.

I have only flown UA and CM out of LIM. CM I was in business class and I'm pretty certain did not give me a lounge invite, I had to use Priority Pass. UA always gives me a lounge invite regardless of which class I'm in and I would assume they would do the same for other airline *G holders. I can't speak for AV's policy if that's who you're flying, but as you noted it's not a Star affiliated lounge, so it's up to them if they give an invite or not. I'd imagine that you'd get one in business class for sure, but I'm pretty certain CM did not, so who knows. I have no idea why AV doesn't operate their own lounge being that it's a hub for AV Peru, but to that point I don't think LA have their own lounge either. Other AV lounges I've been to in the past are pretty basic, so maybe for the better in the end. (never been to BOG, just some outstations).

Also worth note, this lounge is an oddball. You only get 2 free drinks from the bar, they stamp your boarding pass to verify this and it's also stamped on entrance to show that's the boarding pass you entered on. I tested it last time I was there to see how closely they enforce that and used a duplicate boarding pass I printed on the kiosk and was served a drink with that one, but they looked at it really strangely because it didn't have the entrance stamp on it. I don't expect that would work consistently.

Wow really? That's bogus. It's a hub for Avianca and they don't have a lounge? Argh.

I'm flying AV LIM-CUZ as a star alliance gold.

Even if it wasn't a great lounge, it just would've been a nice place to kill the hours, because I remember it being a fairly miserable airport with people all over the floor sleeping and just a really crowded dishevelled terminal. The AV lounge at MEX isn't GOOD, but it's a decent option, the one in SAL is fine, the BOG one gets a lot of complaints from people, but I quite like it and can easily pass some hours there.

This is made even worse by the fact that I've looked for a hotel nearby and can't really find anything decent at a reasonable price...AHHH well.

Yea, I know the SA lounge finder isn't perfect, but I was shocked when I saw no results. Because I was pretty sure I had seen an option before, but also because it's an AV hub, so I kinda just assumed that they'd have a lounge with that presence.

Ah, you're talking the domestic side. You need a Priority Pass for that lounge, it's a pretty decent lounge and very quiet. I don't know if AV will give you an invite to it if you fly business class or not, they definitely do not for *G in economy. Airline operated domestic lounges in South America aren't that common. At least in the case of Peru the domestic flights are very cheap, in some other countries they are outrageously expensive on top of being treated like cattle.

As for hotels near the airport in LIM, there is one and only one. (at least safe hotels). There is a Wyndham on airport property in the parking lot near the bus depot. Aside from that one you'll need to go to Miraflores which is about an hour one way by bus, depending on traffic. The area near LIM airport is not safe, so you wouldn't want to go wandering around outside the airport property. There is also a Sheraton near downtown, but you'd have to go there by taxi, bus only goes to Miraflores. Then a few others scattered around like in Surco and Barranco, but those are farther than Miraflores.

There's a new Holiday Inn across the street, but it will require a shuttle (actually a shared cab) ride. That is not a street I would attempt to cross on foot.

Unfortunately it's an INSANE price. I checked and it was like $200+ for a night. A room I'd only use from like 2000-0400.

Yeah, the Wyndham was always quite disproportionately priced compared to other hotels in Miraflores due to it being the only (formerly) hotel at the airport. Maybe look into getting your hands on some IHG points instead. That's an advantage the Wyndham didn't have, I don't know anyone at all who collects their points, but IHG points are pretty easy to come by.

For your timeframe, Miraflores hotels aren't really an option due to distance. Only other one you might consider is the downtown Sheraton and use Taxidatum back and forth, though in the end I doubt you'd save much over just staying at the airport hotels.

I booked some random place that looked ok. But I hadn't thought about looking into the IHG points, since I find the Marriott points hard-ish to come by and super expensive to redeem. I'm Canadian so it might be a bit tougher than for others, but I'll take a look, thanks for the tip.

If you do stay at the other random place you booked, just be super careful about how you get there. A shuttle operated by the hotel would be best. Local taxis are best avoided, but there is a web service called Taxidatum that is pretty reasonable $$ and safe. The area around the airport is Callao city, much of it isn't safe at all, even for Peruvians, so you don't want to be wandering around there as a tourist.