Latino's Hostal Ejecutivo

Chiclayo is a hot, congested, and noisy city with a reputation for petty crime (the food, friendly people and nearby sights are excellent though). When I visited there I wanted a secure base so I paid a little more than I had elsewhere in North Peru, and it was worth it. Latinos Hostal is a block from the main plaza, two or three minutes walk. The room I stayed in was large, very clean and comfortable, and surprisingly quiet given the location. I´m not always the biggest fan of aircon, but it was a godsend in this case. The staff were very professional and courteous. Importantly in this city, security seemed very good - the hotel is upstairs, there is always someone at reception, and at night they had a security guard at the door. The hotel is close to a number of nice places to eat (e.g. Hebron and Cafe Americano near the plaza) and there is also a supermarket not too far away. They have one computer behind the front desk which was free for guests to use and was probably the best computer I used in North Peru - fast internet connection, good monitor, and appeared free of spyware and warning messages about fake copies of windows. Great for copying and viewing photos. Potential downsides: Probably not the greatest place to meet people if you are a solo traveller. View of the city from my room was a bit gritty as you can see what all the buildings really look like behind the frontages, I like that but not to everyone´s taste. There are cheaper options in the city, I haven´t tried them though. A word of advice: wherever you choose to stay in Chiclayo, book ahead, especially if you have an early morning arrival. The streets are not safe at that hour and it is common for the local taxi drivers to lie about places being full or closed, to try to persuade you to stay somewhere they will get a commission (which will not be nice or necessarily secure).