Last week, I mentioned that my wife and I are traveling to Peru next year (READ: How I scored 2 lie flat seats to Peru)
We have about a week or so that we’ll be there, and so I’m wanting to plan our hotel stays. I’ve learned from experience the perils of waiting until the last minute to book your hotel!
Hotels in Lima, Peru
We’ll likely have 2 nights in Lima. We arrive on a redeye from Washington DC at 5 a.m. Lima time, and our plan is to stay that day and then checkout the day after before taking an afternoon flight up to Cuzco. Originally I planned on doing it like this in order to acclimate to the altitude before heading up to Peru, until I realized that Lima is essentially at sea level (oops :-D). We’ll do a second night in Lima on our way back from Cuzco / Machu Picchu.
According to Award Mapper, there are:
- 2 Radissons (though I haven’t had much luck with Radisson hotels!)
- 3 Hiltons
- 1 IHG (a Crowne Plaza)
- 2 Marriotts
- 3 SPG hotels (Westin, Four Points and a Sheraton)
- 2 Wyndham hotels
I’m sure there are plenty of non chain hotels as well, though I’m a bit reluctant to pay for hotels when I have plenty of points in most of the major chains. My initial reaction would be to use our 2 free IHG credit card nights and stay at the Crowne Plaza Lima
(SEE ALSO: Why you should get 2 IHG credit cards at the same time)
I know it’s not the most exciting free night redemption (READ: Where I “wasted” my 2 free IHG nights), but if we don’t use them here, I’m not sure where we’ll use them before they expire.
If you have recommendations of a hotel in Lima – I’d love to hear them!
Hotels in Cuzco
Hotels in Cuzco are a bit more sparse, but there are still a decent amount of chain hotels as well as I’m sure the non-chain hotels.
I am seeing:
- Best Western Los Andes del America
- Hilton Garden Inn Cusco (Hilton Category 5)
- JW Marriott Cusco (Category 7)
- Palacio del Inka (SPG Category 4 – 10K / night)
- 2 Wyndham properties – one of them is listed as the Wyndham Cusco Saqsayhuaman, but it’s not in the main area of Cusco and most of the other hotels are closer to Saqsayhuaman (which is a UNESCO Heritage site)
If you’ve stayed in Cusco before, I want to hear your recommendations!
Where to stay near Machu Picchu
There aren’t really any chain hotels near Machu Picchu itself, though the Tambo del Inka is in Urubamba (which is in between Cuzco and Machu Picchu).
From what I’ve read, there are plenty of bed and breakfast style hotels in Machu Picchu as well as Aguas Calientes – if you’ve stayed at one of those before that you’d recommend, I’d love to hear your suggestions. Some of the trip reports I’ve read have indicated a simple 2 bed / single room place for $30-40 / night, which sounds fantastic.
The basic plan is a day in Lima, 1 day in Cusco, a few days in Aguas Calientes / Machu Picchu then another day or 2 in Cuzco before heading back to Lima and the US. If you have itinerary suggestions besides hotel suggestions, I’d also love to hear them. If you have trip reports you want to share in the comments, be my guest!
Now it’s your turn – what are your best recommendations for hotels in Peru?
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Dan Miller travels with his wife and 6 (SIX!) children. He loves to help families travel for free / cheap, especially larger families. If you are looking for help, drop him an email at 
What are your dates?
I went trekking in Peru, I would recommend doing this. You only need 4-5 days or so.
I don’t think you need more than a day in Macchu Picchu, seeing the ruins takes half a day, then I climbed Wayna/Huayna Picchu which was fun, a bit steep but not scary – there are two routes up , one is worse than the other. There is nothing much in Aguas Calientes IMO. I stayed at Inkaterra in Aguas Calientes and the JW in Cusco. Both were solid. The train ride to MP is good.
I would probably look at the Starwood property in sacred valley Tambo Del Inka, if you don’t take the active route. There are some ruins around there.
June of next year. What do you mean by trekking? Just hiking through the Sacred Valley or something more specific?
I did this http://www.mountainlodgesofperu.com/
The Salkantay route to MP
JW, Westin for top end. JW has great location. Westin is futher away in the business district.
Hilton for mid end (not the doubletree).
Radisson Miraflores or Courtyard for the cheap but still nice.
I haven’t stayed in the new Sheraton yet, but DO NOT stay in the city center Sheraton (not safe area and crappy hotel).
For Cusco, Tambo Del Inka is amazing but further away and requires more coordination for transportation. In the city I’ve only stayed at the costa del sol’s and the like, because the JW was too expensive. Interesting piece on how they reconstructed the JW in Cusco, pretty cool.
More important than where you should stay is where you should eat!
Thanks for the recommendations! As for where we should eat – we’re open for suggestions!
don’t overlook the local hotels…they are equally nice and cheap
we stayed in tierra viva centro in cusco and although small we liked it..there are good spg/marriott options but with some OTA offers it did not make sense to spend those points given we were going to be in the room for short time
For machu pichu we stayed two nights in Sonesta Posada Del Inka Yucay and did day trip from there…it was nice too
On the way back from Argentina, my wife and I once spent a night on the floor of the Lima airport when the airport closed due to heavy fog. I give it 1 star. Sadly, that’s the only time I’ve been to Peru.
LOL – I will look to stay away from that one 🙂
Will be going to Peru a week before you guys, J on LAN.
we are doing the valley first, a few nights at Tombo Del Inka, then CUZ. Lima is saved last.
I stayed at Los Apus in Cusco-a solid choice, around $50/night for my single room in shoulder season. I had horrible altitude sickness my first day. Maybe find somewhere in the Sacred Valley for your first night instead of spending it in Cusco?
I couldn’t justify chain hotel points considering how cheap it is, but was tempted by Tambo Del Inka.
Our family loved the Marriott in Cuzco. We traveled with kids, so we didn’t trek. We stayed in a cheap hostel in Ollantaytambo, because I didn’t have enough points for the Tambo del Inka for the entire family. Your kids are going to love it!
Thanks for the recommendations. No kids this time but maybe next time!
DO NOT MISS the Tambo Del Inka. Rivals the Park Hyatts, Ritz’s and Conrad’s my wife and I have stayed at. Absolutely beautiful! In Cuzco, we used points for its sister Palacio Del Inka–also lovely, but not quite as nice.
Have an amazing trip!!
Having married a Peruvian woman and have business dealings in Lima, I travel there often (about 25 times last 10 years). In Lima (Miraflores) I have stayed at the CP. Nice property near the center of (tourist) attractions in Lima. Kennedy Park, Larco shopping and many other shops and restaurants within walking distance. Make sure you take the Mira Bus for the City tour. Well worth the small price. Will take you to the city center, capital, churches… In/near Cusco, try the local Hotel Sauce in Ollantaytambo Peru. Wife’s Aunt/Uncle own the property. If by chance going down South to Paracas (Nazca Lines), an excellent place is the Double Tree. We had a magnificent two night stay there a few years back. BTW, if you need a driver while in Lima, let me know. We have a really nice man that we work with while in town.
I can highly recommend the Westin in Lima and the Tambo del Inka for the Sacred Valley.
An international oil producers conference was being held in Lima and the Westin, complete with entourages of armed security guards following around heads of state. My wife and I arrived dirty and smelly from several days of backpacking, and still managed to get a suite upgrade. They have a very nice lounge with great food.
The Tambo del Inka is in Urubumba, about 30 minutes and $10 by bus from Ollantaytambo, which is the last train departure point for Machu Picchu. It has a fantastic, American southwest vibe. EXCELLENT breakfast buffet. There was a KIA commercial being filmed during our stay there, complete with free test drives available.
I would spend a full day in M.P. and one in Ollantaytambo. The hillside ruins on the NE side of Ollan. are free to visit and give great views of the valley. Unless you want to get into M.P. at first light, I would avoid staying in Aguas Calientes.
We did MP this summer and it was fantastic. Since we were arriving late to Lima we stayed at the Wyndham Costa Del Sol across the street from LIM – perfectly fine hotel with a decent bar.
4 nights at the fantastic Tambo del Inka – it’s a tranquil paradise. For sure make the short walk into town for MUCH cheaper food and drink, and to get a feel for local life. The TdI is a walled-off sanctuary that bears no resemblance to life outside, for good and bad. It was the first place I felt really embarrassed by the wealth inequity of staying there vs living there.
In AQ we stayed at the Hotel Waman, which was simple and adequate. Great breakfast buffet on the top floor with views of the town. AQ is practically wall-to-wall hotels and restaurants to cater to the MP tourist crowd.
In Lima I would stay at the JW Marriott. The view is amazing and the area is the best. This would be my ranking.
1) JW Marriott – great view and location
2) Radission – great location
3) & 4) a tie between the Hilton and Crowne Plaza. The Crowne Plaza is 2 blocks from the Radisson but it usually goes for $130-$150 so I wouldnt use your certs there.
I did Peru last week. stayed at the Doubletree in Lima, it i was within walking distance of the Inka market and other sites. In aguascalientes we stayed at La Cabaña Machu Picchu for about 75 bucks including breakfast and/or lunch bag to take to Machu Picchu for you early trek to the mountains. Hilton Garden Inn is Cusco was descent only good things was the proximity to the ollantayo station.
Hands down, Tambo del Inka was my favorite hotel in Peru. Even the base-level rooms are awesome. The pool is small, but a beautiful indoor/outdoor setup and wasn’t crowded. The breakfast was really excellent and they have many unique healthy options. It’s also a short walk to the local town where you can find some good local restaurants.
Added bonus is the convenient train station right behind the property for super convenient access to MP.
I did a similar trip last Thanksgiving, see my complete trip reports with plenty of photos:
https://missvacation.wordpress.com/category/travel/south-america/peru/
Lima-stay at Miraflore, do not stay in the city center (aka the Sheraton), that area I heard is not safe at night. We stayed at the Courtyard Marriott at Miraflores with our annual certificate, the hotel was brand new!
Cusco-we stayed at Palacio del Inka and got upgraded to a suite! Very beautiful hotel easy and safe to walk in cusco center at night.
Sacred valley-we stayed at Tambo del Inka and got upgraded to a suite again, the room was huge! Transferring from Cusco to Tambo del Inka, we booked a private half day tour to the Moray ruins and Maras salt mines and drop us off to the hotel at the end, it only cost $100 with a driver and private tour guide. We realized Peru has so much to see besides Machu Picchu!
Other tips: make sure you bring the exact credit card that you used to book the train to Machu Picchu!
We are going in may 1 night at the jw in cusco, 1 night at a local hotel in aquas, 2 nights at tambo, and 2 nights at the cp in lima.
Stayed at the Best Western Los Andes back in May. Great hotel. Very nice and authentic atmosphere inside. Close to the main square (Plaza de Armas). If you’re doing tours and planned activities with pick-ups included, this hotel is very convenient as the group pick up location is a block away (Plaza Regocijo). Breakfast was included and is a great variety of hot foods! I would recommend.
Why in the world would you want a points hotel in Cusco?!
Points rich, common sense poor.
Uhhhh thanks?
The JW can’t be beat in miraflores. The view from all rooms are amazing. Walking distance to tons of sites, activities and restaurants.
Peru is wonderful, I`ve always wanted to visit Machu Pichu, if you can see, the landscape looks like a human face. Also you should visit Ibiza, I`m sure you will love it 😉
I haven’t been to Peru yet but I’ve had an itinerary for a while. Tambo del Inka features proinently. I love that it has it’s own private railway station for the train that goes to Machu Picchu. The fabled city is 38 miles (but 3 hours) away by train. It’s possible to do a day trip to the ruins, although I might be more inclined to relocate to lodging near by. Still I am certain, I’d use the railway to get there.
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