Hotel in Lima - walking distance to shops and restaurants

Miraflores is better suited for tourists. If you are looking for shopping, Larcomar is a modern, outdoor mall. It's a comfortable place for getting a bite to eat and has a small grocery store as well. It's along a cliff overlooking the coast. On the other end of Miraflores is el Mercado Indio that sells artisanal items.

I suggest looking at hotels within walking distance of Larcomar.

I have not returned since the pandemic, but getting taxis was very easy and safe in those areas. It is also a quick trip to the next neighborhood, Barranco, which has museums, el puente de los suspiros, and lovely architecture.

Kathy,
We have been to Lima twice and love Peru. Also, we did Cusco, the Sacred Valley and Machu Picchu in 2019, it was fantastic.
Recommend the tour company PeruAgency.com for tours. We had a private tour, four days, lodging, tours and most meals included for $799 per person.

One thing about Lima, some neighborhoods should be avoided. However, I remember going through Miraflores and the guide telling us that was relatively safe.

The area around the airport in Lima is not the best area.

Transportation in Lima isn't as bad as you have heard. There's a metro system that connects the areas that tourists are usually most interested in -- the Historic Center, Miraflores, and Barranco. (Technically the vehicles are buses, but they come and go frequently, they mostly follow an exclusive "bus-way," and so it all has the "feel" of a good tram system.) Also, taxis are pretty easy to get.
While the elegant San Isidro is a great place for spending $250 for a night on hotels, it may be a little off to the side for most tourism purposes. Though I usually stay in the historic center myself, which happens to be very walkable, I'm realistic enough to know that visitors will usually want to take the preceding advice, and stay in Miraflores. Almost anywhere between Kennedy Park and the oceanside malecon, or walkway, would do. There is an abundance of hotels, though of course the closer you get to the ocean, the more easily you will spend that $250 hotel fare.
(Additional note: The Huaca Huallamarca, an ancient site in the middle of San Isidro, is worth visiting, though you may not want to stay in that area for that reason alone. But then, Miraflores has an ancient site of its own, the Huaca Pucllana.)

Thank you all for the great info. I think we will focus on Miraflores then!

I also stayed in Miraflores neighborhood, with a tour at Carmel Hotel (just ok) and on my own at Hotel Casa San Martin (dated digs but lovely people). I felt safe walking around and there are plenty of restaurants in the area, though I wasn't out super late (except to catch the airport shuttle at 10 p.m.). Lima is very spread out unfortunately. I did a day tour and a cooking class with Haku Tours, they met me at my hotel and took care of all the transportation which was great. Note that the airport is a solid 45-60 minute drive (more if traffic, and there is a LOT of traffic) to the Miraflores area so plan accordingly.

I have to second what geovagriffith said about the area around the airport. Our taxi driver asked us not to leave our purses on the seats at the traffic lights, due to the grab and go scenario. There's a show on one of my cable channels that is all about the drug enforcement police at the airport. Just always be aware of your surroundings. I will say, I felt very safe walking around Miraflores and the Lorcamar area alone.

It’s been a number of years, but we stayed at Miraflores Park Hotel, Mal. de la Reserva 1035, Miraflores 15074, Peru. From it there were indigenous markets (Miraflores Indian Market and Mercado Artesanal) about a mile from the hotel and the Larcomar mall with restaurants, also nearby.

We were on a smallish group tour in 2008 that stayed at the El Pardo Doubletree, in Miraflores. It was a perfectly nice, American business-style superior tourist-class hotel. We walked all around Miraflores, and went to a few restaurants.

Perhaps this is not true of independent travel, but every hotel we stayed in on that trip, maybe both Ecuador and Peru, was organized around incredibly early departures. I would almost say that breakfast (typically a massive, multi-buffet around a ballroom) started at 5 or 6 AM, and "Check-out Time" was 9:00 AM. But we were long gone, on the way to the airport or the train to Macchu Picchu. That's not a complaint, but only a suggestion that you find out about the lay of the land before you get there. I just had the idea that the hotel hours were a result of normal air departures for most of the guests. (In the case of Lima, it was "to" Cusco.)

You didn't ask, but one reason we booked this tour (with friends) was that their Macchu Picchu hotel was the tiny, luxury, extreme-cost one on top of the mountain. Although we had heavy fog at dawn, and thus missed out on the "money-shot", it was just great to have our rooms right there, and access to the historic site before (and after) the massive crowds, at least for an hour or two. I think we had two nights there.