The Best Hotels in Peru for Every Traveler

Outdoor explorers will love this lodge in Puerto Maldonado, along the Madre de Dios river in the Amazon Basin. Wasai, while just a block away from the city square, sits on the edge of the river and offers incredible views of the wildlife habitat that’s home to sloths, monkeys, and many more species from its log cabin-style “lifted” suites and open-air terraces.

Oxapampa, a unique Austro-German settlement on the edge of the central Peruvian jungle, is unlike anything you’ve seen before. The Gasthaus pays homage to the town’s roots, with waitresses in red-and-white dirndls serving dishes like schnitzel and the only-in-Oxapampa strukala, a pastry made from fried plantain and cinnamon. Nearby, the Sho’llet conservation area houses animals at risk of extinction, like the spectacled bear and the yellow-tailed woolly monkey.

Smack dab in downtown Cusco, Estancia San Blas is just steps away from some of the city’s most popular attractions, like the Religious Art Museum and the Hatun Rumiyoc (great rock) where only a wall remains from an Incan palace lost to time (and the Spanish, who built their own palace on top of it). Once you’re home for the evening, relax on the open-air patio or grab a bite at one of the nearby pizzerias.

One of the oldest hotels in Cusco, Hotel Monasterio San Pedro is – as the name suggests – a 17th-century former monastery with Inca foundations. It still connects to the San Pedro church next door; religious artwork and a stone-accented bar nod towards the hotel’s past. It’s also conveniently close to other downtown sights such as the Plaza de Armas and the Museo Casa Concha, full of interesting artefacts from Machu Picchu.

Retreat to your luxury tent, pitched at a frond-fringed oasis – the Huacachina Lagoon – and surrounded by sand dunes, a short drive from the Peruvian coast. If you’re feeling a bit more adventurous, live out your Mad Max fantasies by speeding around on dune buggies in the drifts, or sandboard your way back down to camp. Once you’re done, beat the heat at the swim-up bar, or take a pedal boat out on the lagoon.

Escape with your significant other into the Sacred Valley of the Inkas where Inkasaire Boutique Lodge and its local family hosts are waiting to greet you with handed-down traditions and practices. Have dinner under the heart-shaped arbor in the garden, or take part in one of Inkasaire’s VIP (Very Inka Person) experiences like Andean breakfast buffets sourced from the hotel garden, Peruvian-style pizzas cooked in the mouth of a bear-shaped oven, and bike rides through the foggy river basin.

While Pucallpa might be a busy commercial town along the Ucayali River in the Amazon Basin, Manish Hotel Ecologico is a paradise among it all. Just down the road from the city’s international airport, your bungalow awaits you after a long day exploring Yarinacocha Lake, Regalia Falls, or the thermal springs of the Mayantuyacu – or boiling river.

While some hotels boast a lakeside stay, how many can say they’re on the lake? Kurmi Lodge is on Lake Titicaca’s Uros Floating Islands – a feat of engineering made from the lake’s ubiquitous totora reed. As a guest at the lodge, you’ll get to spend time with the Uros people who inhabit the islands, away from the seemingly ever-present tour groups.

From the outside, the mock Tudor-style mansion that houses Second Home Peru stands out among the apartments that crowd Lima’s Barranco arts district. That’s just how its former inhabitant, Peruvian sculptor Victor Delfin, would have wanted it. Inside the guesthouse his daughter now runs, Delfin’s experimental paintings and sculptures abound, crammed into every nook and cranny. His most famous piece of all, however, sits just a few kilometres away in Lima’s Parque del Amor.