Villa Elisa Hotel Boutique

White volcanic stone gives Arequipa its name, La Ciudad Blanca, and Villa Elisa sits within easy reach of the square at its centre. The hotel is small by design: twenty rooms, each with a private bathroom, minibar and a view onto the garden. Several rooms carry works of art gathered from more than one continent, set against furniture chosen to match. A handful open onto private jacuzzis. Common areas centre on a heated pool, where the water stays warm enough for a night swim, and a terrace that catches the garden's greenery below. You can hear the quiet of the surrounding streets from the balconies, a rare thing this close to a city centre. The restaurant serves meals on site, and a bar and meeting rooms round out the ground floor. Rooms range from single to a triple or quadruple configuration, so the property suits solo travellers and families alike without changing scale. It is a compact stay, run more like a house than a hotel. The location does the rest: a short walk covers the distance to the main square, close enough to return midday and still make the evening light over the plaza.