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Home > Destinations > South
America > Peru > Wild
Style in Peru > Machu Picchu
and Cusco Hotel Upgrades
The Orient Express hotel company owns and operates both the Monasterio Hotel in Cusco and the Sanctuary Lodge up on the mountain next to the entrance to the ruins of Machu Picchu. We can request an upgrade at the Sanctuary Lodge in Machu Picchu ($800-$1000 per room per night) if space is available. If you want to stay at the Sanctuary Hotel the Orient Express parent company gives preference to guests who also stay at their Monasterio hotel in Cusco. The extra cost to upgrade to both hotels for 1 night Cusco and 1 night at Machu Picchu is approximately $500 per person in double accommodations (standard rooms). See their website for more details about these two hotel properties: http://monasterio.orient-express.com/
The hotel we use for all of our programs in Machu Picchu is the Machu Picchu Pueblo Hotel located at the base of the mountain where you catch the 20 minute shuttle bus up the road to the ruins. The environment of the hotel is slightly warmer and more tropical with lush habitat including an orchid garden attracting a greater variety of avifauna. It is situated within the small enclave of Aguas Calientes well known for its outdoor hot springs. If the Pueblo hotel is full we use the Machu Picchu Inn. Even though the Sanctuary Lodge has the advantage of proximity to the ruins, its disadvantages are limited grounds, smaller facilities (ie. rooms, lobby, etc), occasional reservations snafus, and the commotion of tour buses and hundreds of day tourists coming and going between the arrival of the first train and departure of the last train, including a busy lunch business at the hotel. Overall, we believe the comfort, spaciousness and price of the Pueblo Hotel make it a far superior value than the Sanctuary Lodge.
It is not possible to see much of the actual ruins from
outside the gate of the archaeological site. Access to the
ruins is restricted from opening in the morning to closure
at 5 PM daily. It is not accessible at night. Sanctuary guests
have the ease of proximity to enter the park as soon as it
opens and remain until just before closing. However, those
staying down below the mountain at the Pueblo Hotel can rise
early to catch the first employee shuttle bus up the road
to enter the ruins when they first open, thus having the
same opportunity to contemplate the site and take photographs
before the daily tourist trains arrive. If you are staying
below at the Pueblo Hotel, you must be sure to catch the
last bus down the mountain that day (check with the on site
manager for the schedule). Or, if you choose to stay later,
you must walk down the long, steep switch-back trail or the
sinuous road. Most people find the regular bus schedule gives
them sufficient time to see the site. |
