This hotel has deserved more than 5 stars for the way the staff makes you feel welcome. They treated us so wonderfully and went out of their way for us for whatever request we had. Every day, we had a large buffet by the pool. It might be chilly in the mornings, but we enjoyed sitting out by the pool area a lot and spent afternoons there too after our trips to relax. Ica is a crazy, loud and bustling city and the hotel, separated from the main streets, feels like an oasis. The hotel is in a residential area with access control and you can walk to the restaurants even at night safely. There are several good ones in the neighborhood. Ica is central point for many sights: Nasca and Huacachina desert are among the most popular. When going to Ica, I can only recommend to stay at Balistra.

The staff are lovely and welcoming. They put out a buffet breakfast (even though we were the only guests). We didn't use the pool cos the weather wasn't great (winter) but it was a good size to swim lengths. The hotel is located in a very safe neighbourhood.

It was, however, very cold in the hotel because of its design. Of course, once the sun comes out it would be fine, but as we were there in winter the mornings and evenings were very chilly. Also, the double bed was very small.