COST: $$$
Urban efficiency and modern design aren't usually associated with a UNESCO World Heritage site, but Sumaq (Quechua for excellent or beautiful) is pulling off both. Half of the 60 orange-and-white rooms have balconies overlooking the river; the other 30 have big windows facing the mountains. Indigenous design elements recur throughout the hotel: the Andean cross motif turns up in bathrooms, and on headboards and blankets; and Machu Picchu's architecture is mirrored in the stacked-block look of the floor tiles and squared-off faucets and dinnerware. Energy conservation is a priority here: turning on lights requires an electronic keycard, and corridor lighting is motion activated. Take a "lost city" tour set up by the hotel on request, the hotel porter's daughter, Lisette Aragon made an excellent guide.
As Featured In...
From Travel + Leisure, Sep 2008
“Across the road from the rushing Vilcanota River and the green mountain that hides Peru’s main event, this hotel raises the bar in a frontier town that grew up serving pilgrims who flock to Machu Picchu...” MORE>>
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