Hilton Lima - Miraflores Review

On our first night (well, technically morning, since we arrived at around 1AM) we traveled by Taxi Green from the Lima Airport (LIM) to the Hilton Miraflores.  You'll find the general consensus is that Taxi Green (more on them later) is the preferred service for getting from the Airport to anywhere in Lima.  The set price was 45 Soles (approx. $18) for the 45 minute cab ride.  Miraflores is a fairly well-to-do shopping district and the Hilton (which opened in Dec. 2012) is quite nice.  Your first sight on entering the lobby is the massive slate water features flanking the entrance to the bar:

The check-in area is just beyond some comfortable couches where we were seated while our passports were checked.  As a Hilton diamond, we were "upgraded" to room 1030, an executive floor room.  I was hoping for a better upgrade as many have reported receiving suites at this hotel, but given the short length of our stay and the lateness of the hour, I elected not to make a fuss.  Here's a floor plan showing our room outlined in blue:

The room itself was perfectly adequate with modern furnishings in good condition.  Just inside the door to the right was a closet with extra pillows and a safe:

To the left was the attractively furnished bathroom with the Hilton's standard Peter Thomas Roth toiletries:

The room featured a king-size bed, desk, and largish flat-screen television.

In the room was a letter explaining the lounge hours and services:

Breakfast runs a very generous 6:30 to 11am.  Snacks are served from 1pm to 6pm, and complimentary drinks and a "light dinner buffet" are served from 6pm until 10pm.  The 10pm closure time doesn't appear to be strenuously enforced, though the staff began removing the food and alcoholic beverages at that time.  After crashing for the night, we got up the next morning and went down to breakfast:

The spread was smallish, but the food quality was good.  The hot options consisted of a potato dish, an egg dish, bacon, and sausages.  The beverages pictured in the fridge below were available all day.  Not pictured is an excellent espresso machine that produced quite good coffee drinks.  Service was attentive and friendly without being overbearing.

The room is small, but wasn't at all crowded and we had no trouble finding a table by the window.  Additional tables are outside, but it was cool and overcast so they were not in use.  One item from the buffet that I'd like to mention was some truly excellent local yogurt.

I dearly wish that any variety of US yogurt could approach the quality of this stuff.  I've had yogurt in Europe that was almost as good.  The days of the Dannon being the only choice are happily behind us, but there is no question that the Obama Administration needs to get to work on the "Yogurt Gap" lest we be left behind in the world.

Outside the lounge was a rooftop deck, a lovely pool, and two hot tubs, all with nice views toward the ocean.

We returned to the lounge that evening for cocktails, but unfortunately I didn't take my camera.  The food spread was finger sandwiches, cheeses, fruit, and a couple of hot dishes.  The quality was good, but as we were going out to dinner, we didn't have much.  The bar consisted of red and white wine and a decent mix of liquor.

On the final morning of our stay we needed to return to LIM.  The hotel price for a transfer was around $40, but the desk clerk was happy to call a radio taxi for us.  The charge ended up being less than 40 Soles, or about a third of the price of the hotel car.

All in all, I was satisfied with my stay and wouldn't hesitate to stay here again.

EDIT:  We didn't eat in the hotel bar or restaurant, but I thought I'd mention a great meal we had at Papacho's a "hamburguesa" restaurant that's in the same building.  They have a wide variety of Peruvian influenced hamburgers (all around 30 Soles) that go great with a Sierra Andina beer.