Belmond Hotel Monasterio

The cedar at the heart of the main courtyard has watched four centuries pass. Around it, Belmond Monasterio keeps its cloisters, vaulted corridors and a still-consecrated chapel — gold-leaf retablo and all — that few hotels in the world can claim. It was founded in 1592 as the Jesuit seminary of San Antonio Abad, and remains the only way to sleep within Cusco without forfeiting contemplation. Oxygen-enriched rooms soften the 3,400-metre altitude; at dusk, Gregorian chant drifts through the corridors.

For proximity to the centennial cedar, the Deluxe Rooms in the colonial wing; for families, the Presidential Suite, with its private salon. Illariy, set in the former refectory, serves contemporary Andean cooking — the highland tasting is the proper way to begin — and for more ceremonial evenings, El Tupay pairs Peruvian-Spanish haute cuisine with live music beneath the original vaults.