Right, the Loki hostel is a brand spanking new hostel in Cusco that is owned and run by 4 very well travelled individuals - 2 from Ireland, 1 from Isreal, and the other from New Zealand. Its not the cheapest place in town, but at $6USD it certainly wont break the budget. For your $6 you get a good dorm bed, free breakfast, a very social bar that parties every night of the week, movie room with lounges TV and a decent collection of DVDs, free internet, very helpful and friendly english speaking staff, sunday roast every sunday night for $3, friday bbq every friday night for $3, and boiling hot showers (which is quite rare for South America).

It is in a big old building that the boys had restored. It sleeps around 95 people, but will be able to house around 180 when they finish restoring the building beside it. It is at 601 cuesta santa ana.

This is the best hostel that i have ever stayed in, i cant say enough good things about it. If you want to stay here you should probably book ahead because it is fast becoming the place to stay in Cusco.

I'll second this...a very cool hostel! The showers are amazing, very hot and tons of water pressure. The bar is huge, has a great view, and there is always a lot going on. The only possible issue is that it is up a really steep hill. The walk down the hill to the plaza is no problem, but if you get sick of the walk back up you can get a taxi for 1-2 soles.

The Loki in Lima is also really nice...it's located in the Miraflores area of Lima. It's a lot smaller than the one in Cusco, but I actually liked it a bit better because it is so laid back. They have ping pong and foosball on the roof, a medium sized bar, really friendly staff and comfy dorms.

I was looking at this hostel for a potential trip to Machu Picchu. How safe did Cusco feel? I remember back in the 90s there were a LOT of kidnappings. I think that has tapered off but was curious to the vibe in town :)

--Joey

It seemed perfectly fine to me. I guess it always depends where you go but I never saw an area that seemed shady. :cheers: