This will be a fairly lengthy and completely hones...

This will be a fairly lengthy and completely honest review... Currently staying in El Mercado after having my reservation moved from another Mountain Lodges of Peru property, El Retablo, after checking in and having a few issues with the room (strong mildew smell, dingy towels/sheets, and a less than stellar location). I ll start off by saying that the MLP folks who work at these properties have been friendly and accommodating, however I don t quite understand why both properties are rated so highly on TripAdvisor, Google, etc. The issues I have with El Mercado mirror that of El Retablo; there were several black hairs on our sheets and they are stained in several places (black and yellowish), the towels are dingy and raggedy (with a few blonde hairs here and there), and while the hotel is located a few blocks from Plaza de Armas it is directly across from a gathering of folks who look to be homeless (as there was a women using El Mercado s entrance as a shelter when returning from dinner, who had to be traversed to knock on a locked door) and an inhabited dilapidated building next door that seems to share a side entrance with the hotel (or at least connects to the side entrance). There are a few more issues such as a noisy shower and poor in-room temperature regulation due to the heating method employed by the hotel and what appears to be window-like opening in the bathroom that is not well sealed.