If Instagram has taught me anything, it’s that if you like one video about Peru, your algorithm will immediately show you a thousand reels of influencers feeding llamas from a hot tub. Every single one looks identical: misty Sacred Valley mountains, luxury A-frame cabins, and llamas casually popping their heads in like they own the place.
That hotel is Mountain View Experience, better known online as the Llama Hot Tub Hotel in Peru — and yes, it really is one of the most Instagrammable hotels in Peru. On social media, it looks like absolute magic. But after actually staying there, I realized there’s a lot those dreamy reels don’t show.
So… is Mountain View Experience worth the splurge, or is it just another hotel that looks better on Instagram than in real life? Here’s my honest, no-filter Mountain View Experience Peru review.
Table of Contents
What Is Mountain View Experience?
Mountain View Experience is a luxury eco lodge in the Sacred Valley of Peru, best known for its curated llama encounters and hot tub photo ops. The property consists of standalone A-frame cabins and multi-level suites, ranging from small and simple to full-on luxury.
Prices range from approximately $133 to $466 per night, depending on the cabin type and season. We stayed in one of their Munay Maras cabins, which sits somewhere in the middle in terms of size and luxury.
Getting to Mountain View Experience (Important!)
Mountain View Experience is fairly remote, located about 1.5 hours outside of Cusco in Maras. We were lucky — our previous hotel, Skylodge Adventure Suites, dropped us off directly, which helped a lot.
The hotel will message you on WhatsApp the day before your stay offering transportation options and prices. I strongly recommend taking them up on this. Uber is extremely limited in Maras, and taxis are unreliable.
We learned this the hard way when we tried to visit nearby attractions like the Maras Salt Mines and nearly got stranded. If you’re staying here, plan transportation in advance.
Check-In Experience: Beautiful, But Disorganized
Arriving at Mountain View Experience really does feel like stepping into a dream. Snow-capped mountains, colorful fields, fluffy clouds, and llamas wandering freely across the property — it’s stunning.
We arrived early and were warmly greeted, with our luggage immediately placed in storage. We asked if our room might be ready early and were told repeatedly that check-in is at 1pm.
No problem. The lobby and restaurant area is a perfect place to kill time. The vibe is very eco lodge meets Tulum safari. Think alpaca hides, rustic benches, and a cozy sitting area with a wood-burning stove and tribal downtempo music.
It was crowded, which we later learned was because non-guests can visit for lunch and activities. And of course, the main attraction — the llamas.
Right outside the massive glass windows were dozens of llamas and alpacas. Some tried to wander inside. Some succeeded. The staff barely reacted — clearly a normal occurrence.
There’s a large ceramic barrel filled with corn husks and baskets you can use to feed the animals, plus colorful ponchos and hats to borrow for photos. I felt like a kid at the zoo for the first time — giddy, excited, and immediately running outside to play with llamas.
The llamas all have distinct personalities. Some are aggressive, some indifferent, some insist on shoving their entire heads into your basket like it’s an all-you-can-eat buffet. Some will chase you while other guests laugh.
I was one of the ones being chased.
Thankfully, Oscar, our now-favorite staff member, swooped in to help. He reassured us, taught us how to handle the more aggressive llamas, greeted us by name throughout our stay, and took some of my favorite llama photos and videos. When other staff were less helpful, Oscar consistently went above and beyond.
The First Frustration
When 1pm rolled around, our room still wasn’t ready. We waited. Asked again. Still not ready. The front desk wasn’t particularly friendly at this point.
Another staff member finally helped load our luggage into a van to drive us to our cabin… only to receive a message halfway there saying the room wasn’t ready after all.
Considering we were told we were the first guests checking in that day, the lack of organization was frustrating. They switched us to a different cabin, which posed the question, why didn’t they just assign us the cabin that was already ready in the first place?
The Munay Maras Cabin Review
We finally made it to our cabin and it was gorgeous.
Our A-frame featured:
- A large queen bed
- Indoor wood-burning stove
- A beautiful bathroom with a skylight (the nicest bathroom we had in Peru)
- Bathrobes, Turkish towels, and rubber Andean slippers
This felt like real luxury, not glamping. The glass back wall opened to a breathtaking view of snow-capped mountains and fields, overlooking our private hot tub.
For our final night in Peru, it felt like the perfect place to end the trip.
The only real issue with the design is that there are no curtains for the glass backwall, which means you will probably wake with the sunrise if you didn’t pack an sleeping eye mask.
The Llama Hot Tub Experience: Instagram vs Reality
This is where expectation vs reality really hits.
Despite what Instagram shows, llamas are not constantly roaming around your cabin or hot tub. The property is large, and llama interactions are scheduled.
You book a 15-minute time slot (between 7am and 4pm) where a portion of the roughly 130 llamas and alpacas are herded to your cabin for photos.
We scheduled ours for 2:30pm. Keep in mind it takes 30 minutes to fill the hot tub. As I started to fill the tub and ran back inside to start to get ready and refresh for the experience, I didn’t realize there was an issue with our water heater. When I went back to turn the water off and to get in before the llamas came, I discovered the water was ice cold. We checked the shower and realized we had a big issue on hand.
We messaged the front desk and were told someone would come fix it. That “someone” turned out to be a 10-year-old boy who was also herding the llamas.
Chaos ensued.
We were juggling:
- Cold water
- Scheduled llamas
- Photo ops
- Running in and out trying to fix the heater
- Communicating with a child that did not speak English
The llamas seems pretty well fed already and only a few were interacting with us at first. It felt high pressure to get as many photos and videos before they completely loose interest.
The kid took some photos of us together, while also trying to fix the cold water issue. After seeing me climbing in and out of the hot tub and walk barefoot in the field trying to bribe llamas to join us, the boy helped herd more llamas toward us, and for a moment, it did look like the Instagram photos.
That Instagram moment was fleeting though, as I was feeding one llama and turned my back to feed another llama patiently waiting for a snack. When all of a sudden I heard a “hawk-tuah” and felt a wet splat on the back of my head and back, accompanied by the most awful, rancid smell. I experienced the dreaded llama spit I was warned about. I couldn’t stop laughing, but it was nasty.
The kid asked if we were done, and at that point, covered in llama spit, I was over the llamas for the time being. He then herded them away to their next appointment.
A grown maintenance worker later came and eventually fixed the water heater, but the experience was far from the peaceful paradise Instagram portrays. Fun? Yes. Relaxing? Not exactly.
Horseback Riding at Mountain View Experience (A Highlight)
Mountain View Experience offers several activities, including horseback riding, ATV tours, and picnics. We chose horseback riding — and it ended up being one of the best experiences we had in Peru.
I got a beautiful, blonde horse named Astro. Wearing my baby alpaca poncho I bought in Aguas Calientes paired with the cowboy hat they provided all riders with, I felt like a real Peruvian cowgirl.
It was a small group of our guide, us two, and two Brazilian siblings. As we headed out towards the fields, it became clear that this would be the best horseback riding experience I’ve ever had.
Unlike typical tourist rides, this felt free and natural. Our guide let the horses walk, speed up, fall behind, and even overtake him. The views at sunset — mountains, flowers, town in the distance, and fields — were like a dream.
We booked an hour and ended up riding for an hour and a half. Easily one of my favorite activities of the trip.
After the ride, we end up back at the stables which is the perfect time to do so since the property rounds up all the llamas and alpacas and horses for the evening so you are met with a swarm of animals. It’s like you died and went to llama heaven.
Tip: It gets windy later in the afternoon, but the 4pm time slot is worth it for sunset.
Restaurant Review: Expensive but Excellent
Because the hotel is remote, the on-site restaurant is basically your only option — but thankfully, it’s fantastic.
There are far fewer people now than before, since all the day time visitors have left and only hotel guests remain.
The menu has loads of delicious items to choose from. I thought it would be a good idea to order two appetizers instead of an entrée, so that I can try two things. I was mistaken, because the appetizers were not small, but entrée-sized, so I essentially ordered two meals for one little me. They were both incredibly delicious and beautifully presented, but by the end I was force feeding myself so I wouldn’t waste food. The portions here are very generous.
The dessert menu had been calling my name our entire stay, but stuff to the gills, I resolved to make dessert my lunch the next day, because again I am a fully fledged adult with free will so why not? You cannot skip out on dessert here. They are all beautiful masterpieces, and though the restaurant is pricey by Peru standards, these fine desserts would cost nearly double back home in Los Angeles.
Hot Tub & Campfire at Night
After dinner, it was finally time to enjoy our hot tub as an actual hot tub and not a cold plunge. We requested a ride back to our room since the property is only lit my moonlight and a cloudy night like this meant it was too dark for our liking to walk back. It took quite some time and we were told to wait repeatedly. They could have loaded all the guests waiting into a van and dropped them off sequentially at their cabins. Instead, they were going back and forth one cabin at a time, which made no sense and made the wait over 20 minutes.
Back at the cabin, we turned on the water to fill the tub and messaged the front desk to send someone to light our indoor stove and outside campfire. You can’t light it yourself for safety reasons. It took a while and nobody on the chat was acknowledging receipt of our request.
Our tub was nearly full and in perfect timing someone came to light all the fires for us. Outside was very chilly so we spend the time submerged in the hot tub with just our heads poking out. It was nice to finally get to enjoy this amenity, but would have been much more enjoyable earlier in the day.
We then went inside to enjoy hot showers (so happy the hot water heater got fixed!) and relax in our toasty and cozy cabin before calling it a night.
Breakfast & Morning at the Lodge
Mornings at Mountain View Experience are peaceful and quiet. It’s nice to get up early and enjoy the views before heading over to breakfast. Breakfast is included in your stay, and unlike a typical bland and basic hotel breakfast, Mountain View Experience’s restaurant serves up a beautiful spread of a fruit bowl with yogurt, and a hearty, savory plate as well as a choice of juice and coffee. It’s an A++ meal.
More Llamas and Adventures
After breakfast we packed up our luggage and requested a van pick us up and take us to the lobby. Check out is super early at 10am which doesn’t leave much time in the morning to do things. We had an 8pm flight out of Cuzco and still had pretty much the entire day, so we left our luggage in storage.
I visited the stables since they don’t let the animals out until much later in the day. It’s fun to observe them interact with each other. I noticed a very young, wet-looking llama. I then saw a bloody placenta sack on the ground and realized it was a newborn llama from last night! It was such a special moment to see a newborn llama and its mama in the pen.
We then tried to venture off to nearby sites, like I mentioned before, but quickly learned that it would be one giant logistical nightmare. We thought we could do it without a tour on our own, but the lack of Ubers and affordable taxis made it impossible. If you want to see the sites, book a tour.
After nearly getting stranded after visiting the Salt Flats, we decided to just head back to the hotel and chill for the rest of the day. We spent it eating and drinking at the restaurant and playing with even more llamas. I don’t think I could ever get sick of feeding the llamas.
Fun Fact! One of the llama’s names is Constantine because she is “constantly eating”. You’ll be able to tell which one she is in person. She’ll chase you and break into the lobby trying to get to the food barrel. She’s my favorite.
It was our last few hours in Peru and I wanted to spend as much time as possible hanging with the llamas. All in all, though our original plan was crushed, this unexpectedly relaxing afternoon at the hotel was not bad at all. The van we had arranged with the front desk at check-out to take us to the airport arrived exactly on time and that was the end to both our stay at Mountain View Experience and our Peruvian Adventure.
Is Mountain View Experience Overrated?
Honestly? No — but it’s not what Instagram sells either.
The property is stunning. The llamas are joyful. The food is excellent. The activities are unforgettable. But the llama hot tub experience is staged, transportation issues are real pain in the you-know-what, and the front desk can feel overwhelmed and unresponsive.
Pros
- Unlimited llama and alpaca interactions
- Stunning Sacred Valley scenery
- Incredible horseback riding
- Comfortable, luxurious cabins
- Excellent food
- Staff members like Oscar who truly care
Cons
- Disorganized front desk at times
- Limited English spoken by some staff
- Llama hot tub encounters must be scheduled
- Property is spread out and transportation is slow
- Restaurant is expensive by Peruvian standards
- Very remote location
Tips
- Arrange transportation in advance
- Book tours if wanting to explore the surrounding Sacred Valley attractions
- Take advantage of additional on-property activities like horseback riding or ATV rides
- Budget more for food and drinks during this portion of your Peru trip
- Make sure the hot tub water is actually hot before filling it up completely 😇
Would I stay again? Yes — but with adjusted expectations and better planning.
If you’re chasing the Instagram shot, you’ll get it. Just know what’s happening behind the scenes. Mountain View Experience, despite the few hiccups during our stay, is one of the most unique hotels I’ve ever stayed at.
