Les Meilleurs Hôtels de Luxe à Cusco

Built within the 16th-century Monastery of San Antonio Abad, the Belmond Monasterio is the most extraordinary hotel conversion in the Americas — its cobblestone courtyard, the carved stone arches, and the original chapel are so perfectly preserved that breakfast here feels like a sacrament. The oxygen-enriched rooms for altitude acclimatisation are a practical genius. Nothing in Cusco comes close.

• Monastery conversion
• Oxygen rooms
• Most extraordinary

Built on the foundations of the Inca sun temple Qorikancha — the walls of which are incorporated into the hotel structure — this Starwood Luxury Collection property offers rooms with original Inca stonework visible from the beds, a spa drawing on Andean healing traditions, and a restaurant celebrating Novo-Andino cuisine. The most historically layered hotel experience in the Americas.

• Inca foundations
• Andean spa
• Novo-Andino cuisine

A 16th-century convent facing the Plaza de Armas converted into JW Marriott's most historic property, with cloistered courtyards, original stone arches, and a rooftop terrace with one of the finest views of Cusco's cathedral and the surrounding Andean mountains. The spa and the LIMA restaurant serving elevated Peruvian cuisine are both excellent.

• Plaza de Armas
• Convent cloisters
• Cathedral views

Inkaterra's 16th-century colonial casona on the beautiful Plazoleta Las Nazarenas has only eleven suites, each with original wooden floors and Cusqueña-school paintings. The Inkaterra brand's commitment to ecological and cultural preservation is expressed in the cuisine — which uses highland ingredients from community gardens — and the staff-led archaeological walks.

• Eleven suites
• Cultural preservation
• Archaeological walks

The finest hotel in Aguas Calientes — the town below Machu Picchu — Sumaq combines traditional Andean design with luxury service in a location that allows the earliest morning access to the citadel. The restaurant's seven-course Andean dinner menu and the thermal bath programme make an overnight here far more compelling than it sounds.

• Machu Picchu access
• First entry advantage
• Andean dinner

A converted 16th-century colonial mansion in the artistic San Blas neighbourhood with 93 rooms across several buildings, a garden patio, and the Casa Andina group's reliable quality standards at prices that represent outstanding value for the setting. The in-house oxygen therapy programme is genuinely helpful for altitude adjustment.

• San Blas
• Oxygen therapy
• Colonial mansion

Not in Cusco city but in the Sacred Valley — which all serious travelers to the region should use as a base for at least one night — Rio Sagrado hugs the Urubamba River with glass-fronted casitas, a river-view infinity pool, a spa using highland herbs, and a restaurant that celebrates the valley's extraordinary agricultural biodiversity.

• Sacred Valley
• River casitas
• Agricultural biodiversity