Peru

Costa del Sol Ramada

By far the most convenient hotel to begin your Peru Ultimate Wildlife Amazon & Machu Picchu Adventure. Located just steps from the Lima International Airport, the hotel features a 24-hour restaurant with local and international cuisine, a 24-hour spa for relaxing massages, as well as a Jacuzzi, steam room and sauna. Connect to your friends and family using the free Wi-Fi Internet access. Cool off and go for a swim in the indoor pool. We have been using the Costa del Sol Ramada since it opened with consistent great reviews from our travelers.

Casa Andina Private Collection Sacred Valley (Alternate Lodge)

Casa Andina Private Collection Sacred Valley is a refuge in the mountains, with fabulous views of the Andes from all rooms. This is a cozy hotel and has a local inspired design with rustic details. Casa Andina Private Collection Sacred Valley has 85 rooms and 7 Andean Cottages, which allows visitors to enjoy the peace and energy of the Sacred Valley while enjoying the view of the Andes. Casa Andina's services include complimentary WiFi Internet (in public areas), Internet center, meeting room, fitness center, sauna, and spa.

Sonesta Posadas del Inca Yucay

This ancient former monastery is located in the middle of the Sacred Valley, at 8,600 feet. It was built in the colonial style of the eighteen century, and is surrounded by beautiful gardens and the spectacular foothills of the Andes. Enjoy the relaxing ambiance with warm weather, sunshine and fresh air year round. Local artisans often display their art and crafts in the central square, just as they did when it was a monastery. Posada Yucay is an ideal stopover whether you're exploring the famous Pisac and Chincheros markets, Salt mines of Maras, the town of Moray, Ollantaytambo ruins or the UNESCO World Heritage site of Machu Picchu.

Hotel Sol y Luna (Alternate Lodge)

Winner of the 2013 Trip Advisor Traverler's Choice "Top 25 Lodges in the World" and "Number 1 Lodge in South America", Sol Y Luna is a truly special lodge. Their founding philosophy is to respect the natural environment and live in harmony with the local culture. Sol y Luna has achieved such prestige by blending hard work with a passion for high quality, giving travelers a unique, genuine, and transcendant experience.

Sol y Luna offers a variety of large bungalows where luxury is exquisite rather than ostentatious and in each detail breathes the Sacred Valley, its villages, people and nature. The clay murals of the artist Federico Bauer - inspired by the surroundings - recreate an atmosphere of magic and contemplation. The wide entrance hall, living room and independent bedroom, all decorated with folk art, and the terrace with its jacuzzi, complete the poetry of the premium bungalows. These luxurious spaces come with  personalized service, a private reception, marvelous gardens and preferential access to Sol & Luna's services, such as its exclusive Yacu Wasi spa, Killa Wasi restaurant, as well as the offers made by Wayra like the wine cellar, the chef's table, our own Peruvian-Paso-horse ranch and numerous outdoor activities.

Manu Wildlife Center

Featured in Conde Naste Traveler and National Geographic, Manu Wildlife Center consists of 22 double bungalows arranged around a pleasant and well planned Amazonian garden that attract birds, butterflies and mammals. The lodge is surrounded by 48 km of trails, where you can see some of the 13 species of primates that inhabit Manu Biosphere Reserve, the #1 most bio-diverse park on earth. The lodge features 2 rainforest canopy platforms with spectacular vistas of the rainforest, ideal to observe Manu's astounding 1,000 species of birds and 200 species of mammals. A 3 km trail takes you to the world's largest (and perhaps only) Tapir clay lick in the Amazon, where there is a raised platform camouflage blind with mosquito nets for night-time observation of the largest mammals in the rainforest. A short boat ride on the Madre de Dios (Mother of God) river brings you to another clay lick frequented by various species of parrots and macaws.

All bungalows are private and separated from each other for privacy and all have large windows facing the forest and garden. They have private toilet and shower facilities, hot water and individual mosquito nets. The large dining and bar/lounge areas are separate from the other facilities but close to all bungalows and the nearby kitchen area. The menu is high quality and very wholesome, although not gourmet, featuring fresh vegetables, fruits, grains and meats. There is a separate spacious bar and lounge area which is located a short distance from the dining area. A variety of cold non-alcoholic and alcoholic beverages are always available.

Manu Wildlife Tented Camp

Deep in the Reserved Zone, our tented camp offers simply the finest wildlife viewing opportunities in the most remote section of the most bio-diverse park in the world. This is truly an unparalleled opportunity to see the wildlife of the Amazon with all the comforts of home.

Manu Tented Camp is actually more like a lodge than a tent camp. It features screened, hermetically-sealed, double-occupancy, walk-in tents with hinged doors and solid wooden floors. Each tent measures 16.5' x 10' x 7' and the floor is elevated above the ground on wooden stilts. There are extra-long twin beds in each tent, each with a mosquito net. Our camp also features an elevated, screened dining room with wooden floor and a separate complex of shared hot-water showers and flush toilets.

Hotel Monasterio by Orient-Express (Upgrade Option)

Located in the vibrant heart of Cusco, this five-star Orient Express hotel perfectly combines historic grandeur with modern elegance. Originally built in 1595, Hotel Monasterio sits on the site of Inca Amaru Qhala's palace. Three year's later, the Spanish took it over and founded the Seminary of San Antonio Abad. An earthquake seriously damaged the building in 1650, and upon restoration the beautiful Chapel was added. In 1965, the building was remodeled as a hotel. Hotel Monasterio is now a national historic landmark, protected by Peru's National Institute of Culture.

Casa Andina Private Collection Cusco (Alternate Lodge)

Casa Andina Private Collection Cusco is located in a beautiful eighteenth century building, recently refurbished, with 5 stately colonial courtyards, only 4 blocks away from Cusco's Main Square. Its design aims to capture the local flavors while offering the facilities and services of a first class hotel with complimentary Wi-Fi internet, internet center, ATM and massage spa. Its 93 rooms are distributed over 2 floors. Casa Andina Private Collection Cusco's strategic location is ideal for our Cusco segment, and we often use it as an alternative to the Novotel.

Hotel Novotel Cusco

This 4-star hotel has 99 rooms, all inside a 16th century former monastery. There are two types of rooms: the original Colonial rooms which have been renovated into superior accommodations, and a newer, modern wing of international standard rooms. The spectacular courtyard features the original 16th century Spanish architecture, with dozens of intricate arches topped with a glass pyramid, and is one of the hotel's best features. The Novotel is an ideal location close to the central Plaza de Armas and cathedral, (but not so close as to be noisy) and only 10 minutes from the airport.

Inkaterra Machu Picchu Pueblo Hotel

The Inkaterra Machu Picchu Pueblo Hotel is a collection of comfortable small and charming cottages located at the lower part of the Machu Picchu mountain, very close to the ancient ruins. It is surrounded by more than 12 acres of private ecological tropical gardens and trails with many orchids and a large variety of colorful birds. We've been using this lodge for many years, to rave reviews from our travelers. We think its the best lodge and best location in Machu Picchu.

Tambopata Research Center

Featured in National Geographic magazine, the Tambopata Research Center (TRC) one of the most remote rainforest lodges in South America, 46 miles upstream from Posada Amazonas, deep within the 700,000 hectare uninhabited nucleus of the reserve of Tambopata Reserve. This area is visited by less than 3,500 travelers/year (compared to the Cultural Zone where most commercial tourism takes place, which has over 35,000 visitors/year.)

In this isolated and uninhabited part of the Tambopata Reserve, wildlife is dramatically more abundant, the rainforest is pristine, and populations of wild animals are all at carrying capacity. The world's largest macaw & parrot clay lick is less than 500 meters from the lodge, and is the star attraction. Sightings of monkeys, tapir, and other large mammal species are also much more frequent in this area. Jaguars are sometimes seen near the river bank,  your odds of seeing jaguar increase with Wild Planet's exclusive "Jaguar Kayak Float" ; we'll float silently downriver at dawn, at the right time and place where most sightings have occurred.

The forests around Tambopata Research Center offer excellent probabilities of seeing primates such as Brown Capuchin, Squirrel, Dusky Titi, Red Howler Monkeys, Saddleback Tamarins and Spider Monkeys. Other mammals such as Tayra and Agouti are seen almost daily around the TRC clearing. Tapir are seen recurrently from the beach in front of the clay lick where they often cross the river. The TRC clearing is almost as good as the surrounding trails for encounters with foraging agouti, tayra, nocturnal pacarana, and ocelot.

The world's largest macaw & parrot clay lick is less than 500 meters from the lodge, and is the star attraction. The clay lick is a huge, 50 meter tall cliff of reddish clay with high concentrations of minerals that extends for 500 meters along the west bank of the Tambopata River. On most clear mornings of the year, depending on the season, hundreds of parrots and macaws flock to the lick as well as guans, tapir, capybara, and monkeys.

There are also outstanding photographic opportunities in the nearby palm swamp, where blue-and-gold and red-bellied macaws nest during the breeding season (November to March). A 65 foot tower with an open platform allows for eye-to-eye observation and outstanding photographs of nesting macaws from just 20 yards away.

Refugio Amazonas

Refugio Amazonas is a 32-bedroom lodge four hours from the Puerto Maldonado airport. It is ideal for soft adventurers and families, and has a rainforest trail designed especially for children, the only one in the Peruvian Amazon. Refugio is located in a 200-hectare private reserve within the buffer zone of the Tambopata National Reserve. Refugio Amazonas partners with local families to ensure that they share in the benefits of eco-tourism.

Posada Amazonas

Posada Amazonas stands in a 2,000 hectare reserve set aside by the indigenous Amazonian Ese'eja community to protect primary forest and wildlife. The lodge is a joint venture with the Ese'eja community, who take home 60 percent of the profits, have an equal say in all decisions, and enjoy training and jobs at the lodge. The lodge is a model of sustainable operating practices; it was built using only local materials with modern, low-impact, eco-lodge technology. There are ample opportunities for cultural interaction with the Ese'eja during daily wildlife-viewing excursions to oxbow lake to see giant river otters, clay licks to see macaws, and rainforest trails to see 8 species of primates.