Titilaka

Belmond las Casitas

Escape to the reclusive serenity of this river-set colonial retreat where the main building is a converted colonial-era farmhouse. You need to drive far to access this retreat. And the drive is an unmissable experience, via craggy escarpments to exalted viewpoints where the purity and nobility of the Andean landscape will strike you.

For rooms, you have quaintly furnished individual casitas or cottages with dark wood furniture, high, scattered over acres of undulating gardens that are adorned with ponds. If you’re game, savvy young general manager Aldo del Camp can organise a whale of a picturesque drive, via the white volcanic colonial city of Arequipa, right up to Nazca.

Otherwise, read on a garden bench, arrange a rigorous massage at the spa, or soak in your casita’s outdoors tub in an invigorating ablution fragrant with minty muna, while watching the light change over the hills.

 

Explora Valle Sagrado

Explora is about the “art of travel” and, like all fine arts, its appeal is niche. It’s meticulous. It’s aesthetically sensitive. The super sleek structure in blond wood emerges from a hazy speckle of purple and golden corn, evoking an Impressionist painting.

Explora was created to scale those pinnacles. Pick from 36 crafted hikes that unveil the Sacred Valley’s secret splendours, before resting yourself down for a well deserved treat at Peru’s most gorgeous destination spa.

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A swath of glass sweeps across vast spaces that span restaurant, bar and lounge, all of which adopt a lean look that’s imposing in its starkness. From glass-panelled interiors or outdoor terraces, behold green-mantled mountains soar. Rooms in wood and glass are minimalist with no TVs, no Internet, no minibar.

 

Inkaterra Hacienda Urubamba

By night, the hotel glitters like a bejewelled casket on the hillside. In the embrace of the imperial Andes that hang like a cadence on the horizon, this tranquil space is among Peru’s most beautiful hotels.

The main building, behind which ample individual casitas rise on the lilt of a hill, recreates a Spanish hacienda enclosing a large central courtyard. Embossed saddles, ornate church bells, colonial antiques and artwork, and old indigenous textiles convene tastefully in a contemporary space with plush sofas.

The Hacienda is set in sprawling lawns surrounded by the Andes.

 

Titilaka

Titilaka is the abode of unbridled luxury that propelled Peru to glamorous heights when it was launched in 2008. What is really captivating are views of the glass-wrapped surface of Lake Titicaca. This is the world’s loftiest navigable waterbody and it stretches like an ocean.

On the outdoor deck clad in blazing white daybeds, watch the waters boiling with myriad birds. Rooms come with opulent beds, buxom tubs and the richest toiletries in all Peru. The wine and goodies-stocked mini bar is on the house, like meals and excursions.

Embark on a handsome boat to see the famous floating islands followed by a delightful picnic on the culturally endowed, blue-water-wreathed Taquile Island. At night, gaze at the constellations.

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This article was originally published in Home & Decor Singapore.