travelswithmyself

Ah! I see the confusion. Someone didn't do their job properly - the spanish Perurail website is clearer - the Urubamba/TdI station is 3 hours from MP

Rest assured, the Urubamba station is on the hotel grounds.

Btw, my own opinion is that the extra 1+ hour to take the train from Urubamba vs taking the train from Ollanta is not worth it for the trip going up. The cab ride is about 20 mins. You're all keyed up in the morning and ready to go. Don't want to be sitting in the train any longer than necessary.

On the way back it's different. You're tired, the sky is dark, and you'd rather just sit in your train seat all the way back to the hotel. I got off at Ollanta and had to fight the crowds to find my driver, then there was lots of traffic going out of Ollanta which at the time I went had only one narrow cobblestoned road leading in and out of town. It took me about 45 mins to get back to the hotel, time I could have spent sitting in the train and snoozing.

doraexplora

Can someone recommend a driver that can take us from TbI to the train station in Ollantaytambo early in the morning and back in the evening? I checked with the hotel and they charge US$30 each way. That seems pretty overpriced. I saw on here a mention for $12 each way. Thank you in advance! I am going in 3 weeks...really excited, also about staying at TdI.

zorndeslammes

We went looking for people in advance to do it and generally speaking we were looking at about 20-25 outside the hotel's control. $12...maybe a few years ago, but not any more. For the record, we did use DUP Tours to take us from Cusco to the TDI without any issue, but their driver was nowhere to be seen when our train pulled into Ollantaytambo at 10:something PM, and we had to take our chances with a local taxi driver. That worked out fine. I can see how for a lot of people that may not be a risk they want to assume.

To the previous poster asking about food in Ollantaytambo, we ate at Hearts Cafe there and it was really quite good. Among the better meals we ate in Peru.

mkpkmp

Stayed at Tambo del Inka in August. It is a beautiful property. We loved the pool. We followed everyone advice and stayed here first, visited Machu Picchu, then went to Cusco. None of us experienced altitude sickness. We used Oscar Guevara ([email protected]) as a guide and driver. He is great. His prices are about the same as DUP Tours.

krazykanuck

I'm looking to book a night here for next month and the prepaid rates are including the 18% tax that foreigners are exempt from. If you book a prepaid rate and pay the tax, are you able to get it refunded?

It's less expensive to book the SPG member flexible rate (and not pay the 18% tax) than to book the prepaid rate and risk not being able to get the tax refunded.

Any experiences with this?

RCyyz

When I was there last month they charged me the tax via the credit card. The guy at the front desk saw it when he printed my final bill and immediately apologized. He asked if it was OK to refund the tax in cash and promptly gave me the correct change in bills.

All in all a painless exercise.

krazykanuck

Ok, that's great. Thanks! So I'm probably safe to book the prepaid SPG rate. At $267 (net of the tax) vs. 16,000 points it looks like a cash booking makes more sense. Might do cash + points, at 6k + $110.

captain_starwood

The cash and points isn't a terrible value at that rate: 267 - 110 / 600 = 2.67 cents per point. Over three is good for starwood. Sometimes one finds 4-8 cents per points, which is awesome.

tuscanyx

I ended up not using p&c or points for this property. prepaid rate is 30% off so makes it barely over $200/night with breakfast, which is better for p&c for us since we don't have plat status. on top of that, hopefully 4th night free from citi prestige will drop the 4 nights to $630 total.

motytrah

Stayed last month for a couple days. Received full credit even though it was booked via the Travel Agent channel. The private train station is huge as it meant we got to sleep an extra 90 minutes before heading out.

Our guide explained it's a somewhat controversial property as the site used to be the public park and pool for the town.

captain_starwood

Very interesting re: the controversy. Urubamba struck me as a mostly non-touristic town, with the Tambo Del Inka as the exception. The location seems particularly choice, due to the proximity to the river. Hard to tell whether the people in the town see much financial benefit from the hotel.

motytrah

Definitely not nearly as touristic as some of the other towns closer to archeological sites. Though there's several nice restaurants in Urubamba and even a fledging brewery. It's fairly safe to walk around the town at night and the concierges onsite are happy to draw up maps and make arrangements. There's a market area onsite at the TDI, but the only thing I ever saw open was the Peru Rail ticket office.

Since we had a private guide for the week I think he was a little more chatty about the local gossip. I don't picture the Grey Line bus tour guide talking about that kind of thing.

SeeTheLights

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We are going to Peru soon and staying at Tambo. Did you like your private guide? Would you recommend him/her and mind messaging me their contact info? Thanks!

unclepants

We will be staying here as a family of 5, for five nights in July.

Has anyone had recent experiences with the Tikariy travel service onsite at the hotel? Are they worthwhile, or is it best to seek other services?

seat38a

We did not use them. We arranged for a private tour, with a private driver and tour guide. The hotel does have a private train station with trains to Machu Picchu which I think you have to buy the tickets through Tikariy travel. http://www.tambodelinkaresort.com/private-train-station

The key to this hotel is that you really need to set aside sometime to enjoy the hotel amenities. Total waste to use it as a sleeping only hotel. I wrote a full review of my stay this past September. http://seat38a.com/tambo-del-inka-ho...urubamba-peru/