Mexico, Central & South America > Peru > Sacred Valley and Machu Picchu > Cuzco > Articles > Breathtaking Cusco

Gisele Bündchen and Leonardo diCaprio have laid their A-lists heads on the linen pillows. Actors Ben Kingsley, Goldie Hawn and Jane Fonda have all sampled the famous house cocktail, the pisco sour, at the chi-chi bar. Colombian pop pixie Shakira has even been spotted taking her morning coffee in the shady courtyard. The place in question? Cusco’s Hotel Monasterio, the luxury hotel standing at the vanguard of the chic Cusco revolution.

Think Cusco and you normally think backpackers, tour groups and hordes thronging en masse to the nearby ancient Inca ruins of Machu Picchu.

Away from the backpacker cafes and youth hostels, however, there's a more glam side to the world’s favourite traveller city: hotel rooms pumped with their own oxygen supply; a train ride through the Andes with silver service and starched table clothes; and a slew of tucked-away bars for travellers who want to soak up the Inca culture without leaving their sense of style at Heathrow.

If you’re planning to stay in style you need to arrive in style too. And, thanks to the Orient Express train that plies the 384km Lake Titicaca to Cusco route, you can. The ten-hour journey is more than comfortable with table service and great views across the Peruvian Altiplano. The bathrooms are all marble and dark wood while the back of the train features a lounge bar with an open roof to better soak up the scenery. While a three-course lunch is served, the train climbs slowly to La Raya, the highest point at 4,319m above sea level, before picking up speed for the last few hours into Cusco.

From the train station, it’s a short taxi ride to the Monasterio, a property converted from a 16th-century Spanish monastery and built around a cloistered courtyard, at the centrepiece of which is a 400-year-old cedar tree. There is even a selection of Gregorian chants to accompany the breakfast buffet. Despite its history, however, the hotel takes a very modern approach to the problem of altitude sickness.

Located at 3,300m, first-time visitors to Cusco often feel the effects of the altitude. Indeed, at this altitude, the thin air deprives the body of up to 30 per cent of normal oxygen levels. Hence 50 new oxygen-enriched rooms have been introduced, using an oxygenation system developed by Glasgow’s Scottish Pulmonary Vascular Unit, whereby oxygen is gently pumped through filters into the bedroom to reduce atmospheric pressure to 2,400 millibars (pressure at sea level is around 1,000 millibars) and aid gentle slumbers. The hotel is believed to be the first in the world to offer this service.

A few blocks away in the central Plaza de Armas, the tour parties are clambering over the cathedral, dodging the shoeshine boys and postcard sellers, or browsing for bargains in the craft shops. But arm yourself with a selection of word-to-the-wise addresses and can be exploring a smarter side of the city while the majority of gringos are still consulting their fold-out city map.

The backstreets of Cusco are home to some excellent shopping with alpaca sweaters and local artworks the pick of the purchases, while after dark there are some hidden-gem bars for cocktails and supper. If you’re feeling particularly bold, the local speciality dish is ‘cuy’, or roasted guinea pig. Just don’t go expecting as much meat as you can muster from a juicy llama steak.

The likes of Gisele and Leo have recently been spotted tucking into an alpaca loin with toasted corn and cassava (US$21) at the Monastario’s El Tupay Restaurant. At first Cusco can feel like gringo Disneyland, but get to know its smarter side and you’ll realise that you don’t need to take out a second mortgage to join them in appreciating Cusco’s finer side.

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