Where to Stay on a Budget in La Paz, Bolivia

The flower-filled cobbled courtyard alone, centered around a fountain, is worth booking into this charming colonial-era guesthouse for, never mind the welcoming rooms packed with tradition and local handicrafts. Art by indigenous Aymara people is scattered throughout, from the walls to the table decorations. The complimentary daily newspaper is a good way to brush up on your Spanish over a fresh fruit and pastry breakfast in the beamed restaurant, where you can also dine on almond-crusted trout, fresh from Lake Titicaca and Bolivian wine. The lively street the guesthouse is on, lined with bars and restaurants, is an easy five-minute stroll from the San Francisco Church.

This grand-fronted European-style hotel with a view of Illimani Mountain offers smart rooms with metallic headboards and stylish furnishings; some rooms feature those coveted views from their balconies. There’s a lot to keep guests in the hotel, such as the sumptuous spa with two types of sauna and a heated indoor swimming pool, or the sleek top-floor, wood- and leather-lined bar where you can sip a singani cocktail made from the traditional Bolivian booze. When you decide to venture out, culture is on hand right next door, in the form of the National Museum of Archeology packed with Tiahuanaco exhibits.

This all-suite hotel has a relaxed residential setting close to the embassies and an easy 2mi (3km) drive from the airport. It’s styled on traditional chain hotels, so there’s plenty of brown marble and natural tones in the spacious suites. Dukes is a plush, red-carpeted restaurant serving grilled meats, fish, shellfish, pasta and regional specialties, and features a wrought-iron-fronted feature wine cellar.

Choose between shared dormitories and double rooms, minimally styled with wooden floors and cozy bedding, at this central bargain bed for the night between Plaza San Francisco and the bus station. There’s a restaurant where you can enjoy a complimentary breakfast each morning, or you can mingle in the on-site club or the bar/lounge – in fact, there are art- and plant-filled spaces for hanging out in everywhere you look.

Selina La Paz is tucked away in the mountainous and bohemian Sopocachi neighborhood. Inside, spick and span twins, triples, family rooms and dorms are decorated with semi-industrial-style open brickwork, concrete walls and white bedding. You’ll be inundated with services here, from the practical, including a well-equipped kitchen area, to the fun, such as a cinema. Start the day with a yoga session before joining a group excursion to the largest salt flats in the world, in Uyuni. Return to an on-site massage or snuggle up in the library with a travel book and a cocktail from the bar.

Right by the Witches’ Market, which sells herbal and folk remedies, this adults-only establishment is a relative newcomer to the La Paz hotel scene. It’s big and bright, with rooms and dormitories decorated in neutral tones, and bright, striped local textiles and rustic beds. The glass-lined terrace is the spot for a local Bolivian beer and the chance to coo over the panoramic city-skyline view. Breakfast can be continental or cooked, depending on your mood.

A short walk from Tambo Quirquincho Museum, this hostel, one of a chain throughout Peru and Argentina, is a flop-and-drop option for travelers, with simple rooms and dormitories and more of an onus on socializing. Sip the signature drink of the hotel, the blood bomb, in the gilded bar – it also offers happy hour, themed nights and entertainment organized by the friendly staff. To gather energy again each morning, there’s a cooked breakfast each day and a rooftop terrace where you can get a breath of fresh air.