Belmond Hotel Monasterio, Cusco: Sleeping in a Convent at 3,400 Metres

The Building

The seminary of San Antonio Abad was founded in 1595 on the foundations of an Inca palace. The Belmond group has operated a hotel here since 1995 with admirable restraint — the vaulted corridors, the central courtyard with its 300-year-old cedar tree, the chapel with its original gilded baroque altarpiece remain intact and define the experience entirely.

The Altitude

Let us be honest: arriving in Cusco at 3,400 metres is a physical event. The headaches and breathlessness are real and not something that personality or fitness can mitigate. The Monasterio addresses this with its signature service: enriched-oxygen rooms, where the air supply is supplemented to simulate a lower altitude. We took an enriched-oxygen room and slept dramatically better than friends who did not.

The Room

Our room opened off the first-floor gallery overlooking the courtyard. Original stone walls, viga ceilings, parquet floors, Andean textiles on the walls. The beds were extraordinary — deeply comfortable, layered with alpaca blankets that proved necessary at night, when temperatures dropped sharply. The bathroom was small but beautifully fitted.

Illariy Restaurant

The hotel's restaurant is one of the best in Cusco — which is a city with a genuinely impressive food scene. The menu navigates between Andean tradition and contemporary technique: quinotto (quinoa risotto) with Andean herbs, slow-cooked alpaca with native potato purée, causa limeña with fresh seafood flown in from Lima. The breakfast, served in the courtyard when weather permits, includes every Peruvian bread, cheese, and fruit you should eat before a day's sightseeing.

The Courtyard

The courtyard at the Monasterio is the beating heart of the hotel and one of the finest outdoor spaces in South America. The cedar tree casts dappled shade over stone paving; musicians play traditional Andean instruments on weekend evenings; the carved stone fountain is original to the colonial building. It is a place to simply sit.

Verdict

The Monasterio is genuinely special — not merely a luxury hotel in a beautiful building, but a hotel that earns its place in the architecture around it. The altitude makes the first night hard; everything afterwards is extraordinary.

Best for: History lovers, South America first-timers, those who want to understand Cusco's layered past Room rate: From £300 per night; enriched-oxygen supplement approximately £80 per room per night Tip: Book the enriched-oxygen option. The difference is significant.