Hotel Review: Palacio Del Inka, Cusco

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Let’s start with the fact that the Palacio Del Inka hotel has a history as Pizarro’s palace and an Incan Temple. It’s luxurious, recently renovated and does an outstanding job of  preserving and displaying history with thoughtful and attractive decor. Even if you don’t stay at this hotel, stop by for a drink or tour the lobby, courtyards and common rooms.

After a pretty full day touring the Sacred Valley, we finally got to Cusco. We pulled up in our taxi, paid out and headed to our hotel. Getting closer we noticed quite the grand and welcoming entrance. With tired hiking legs and a day of car rides climbing to higher and higher altitudes, this looked exactly right. Exactly. Right.

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The reflection in the window above the door is the Qorikancha or Sun House located right across the street, which was the most important temple in Incan culture. The Spaniards said it was “fabulous beyond belief” and had walls covered in sheets of gold. They then knocked it down and built the current Church of Santo Domingo right over it. It seems this was always a popular neighborhood.

Passing through the entryway and past the concierge is a nice open room, whose sole purpose seems to be bright and have interesting artifacts to view. Throughout the hotel there are hundreds, if not thousands of interesting things of all sorts on display. Its incredible and someone should really make an audio tour to tell the story of all these fascinating objects.

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Another thing about this hotel is it is big, much, much bigger than it seems from the street. It encompasses several buildings and courtyards.

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The rooms are designed uniquely and well, with a high level of charm worked into every room. We heard that the presidential suite balcony was where Pizarro would address the city.

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This is where you will have breakfast with the other Conquistadors.

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It’s a museum, gallery and luxury hotel with a spa. All in all, you should stay here if you can, even if for just one night. If you are a Starwoods SPG member, you can swing a sweet Cash and Points deal – just book in advance as it tends to have limited availability.