5 Best places to stay in Cusco

This 16th Century Spanish-colonial mansion overlooking a plaza in arty, boho San Blas, is so steeped in history you can imagine a conquistador stepping out of the front door, sword in hand.

The house was built over the training ground for Inca officers; Diego de Almagro (the conqueror of Chile) and Simón Bolívar – liberator of Spanish South America – are previous guests.

The original colonial brick masonry has been fully restored, baroque art adorns the walls, statues of saints sit on plinths next to modern sofas-to-sink-into in the lounge. The best rooms are the upper floor balcony suites overlooking the central atrium, with faux-antique furnishings and chunky wooden beds.

The spa is modest, but offers excellent massage treatments for guests who are feeling the altitude.

This sprawling 16th Century monastery, built on the foundations of an Inca palace, now serves as one of Cusco’s most resplendent hotels.

Four cloisters (now housing guest rooms) surround picturesque arched courtyards, one of which contains a 400-year-old cedar.

Rooms are furnished with heavy dark-wood, colonial-era beds and wardrobes, and the whole hotel is adorned with priceless art – gilt rococo finials rescued from Spanish-colonial churches and exquisite Spanish-indigenous paintings from the Cusco school. 

The hotel’s restaurant – sitting under a colonnade of arches – is one of the city’s best; white-tie waiters pour Pisco sours in the low-lit bar hung with huge mirrors, and there are dreamy views out over the terracotta roofs and bell towers of Cucsco at every turn. 

The hotel is located in Cusco’s historic centre, close to the cathedral, Qorikancha and the key sights. Although the entire complex lies just a few blocks away from Cusco’s busy main square, it feels remarkably meditative and restful.

Close to Cusco’s main square and with rooms set in the colonial-era cloisters of the city’s old market, El Mercado offers value-stays in a slice of old Cusco, a stroll from the city centre.

The décor fuses Spanish-era grandeur with modern design (from renowned Peruvian architect Jordi Puig). Rooms come in warm creams with abstract textile carpets, Philippe Starck-inspired drapes and bright modern art on the walls. They sit over a large central atrium with a fire pit and lounge chairs.

The Plaza de Armas and Cusco’s best restaurants and bars are two blocks away.

This family-run small hotel set in a historic townhouse on a steep cobbled street in hilly San Blas is a great spot for a quiet, cozy stay in one of Cusco’s up-and-coming arty neighbourhoods, with superb views.  

San Blas is village-pretty: whitewashed buildings coloured with brightly-painted eaves, window-box flowers and old Spanish balconies look out over tiles and bell towers to central Cusco.

The hotel has genuine local character. Rooms and public spaces are painted in the Spanish-indigenous floral and organic rococo patterns of traditional Peruvian altarpieces, by San Blas artisans. Walls and beds are adorned with indigenous art.

There are bars and restaurants on the doorstep and the welcoming staff are genuinely helpful.

Sitting in a beautifully-restored colonial-Spanish Carmelite monastery in the heart of old Cusco, filled with priceless antiques and with its own restored baroque chapel, the Nazarenas combines the romantically historical with the intimate and lavish.

Rooms sit in cloisters around a fountain-filled garden and a gorgeous sapphire pool. Beds are draped with luxurious Egyptian linens. Cusqueño – Spanish-indigenous art and crafts – adorn the walls.

The hotel’s restaurant, Senzo, serves a menu of modern Peruvian cooking by Peru’s top chef, Virgilio Martinez and is one of the best in the city. The Plaza de Armas is a stroll away.