Explora Valle Sagrado - All Inclusive

Best Hotels and Resorts in the World: The Gold List 2022

"There are many ways to experience this minimalist adventure-focused lodge on a former corn plantation in the mountain stronghold of the Incas. I was lucky enough to sample two of them on a recent visit: first as a solo traveler and then with a group of my oldest friends, who joined me after completing the Inca Trail to Machu Picchu. Alone, I hiked with a chatty local guide: past old Inca retaining walls and agricultural terraces on a pleasant trail near the town of Ollantaytambo, and then on the more arduous Cinco Lagunas trek, up into the mist at 15,000 feet with no one around but a few distant Quechua shepherds and their sheep. When my friends arrived, we went single-track mountain biking from Moray, one of the Sacred Valley’s signature Inca sites, to Salar de Uyuni, the world’s largest salt flat, where it feels like walking on clouds. The hotel gave me everything I needed and nothing I didn’t: My room had no Wi-Fi, minibar, or screens of any kind, but did have a magnificent bed, a lovely hot tub, and hot water left for muña tea—made from a mintlike Andean herb, which is helpful for combating altitude sickness and imparts a wonderfully tranquil feeling at bedtime. The menu, by acclaimed Peruvian chef Virgilio Martínez, is exceptional, as are the addictive Urubamba corn-kernel snacks from the nearby fields, which I consumed by the fistful while drinking Pisco Sours. The building—low, simple, and unobtrusively modern—was designed by José Cruz Ovalle to exist in conversation with nature. At every turn, there is another view you could gaze at for days. But Explora ultimately isn’t about gazing: It’s about getting out there, into a land that’s still as pure and elemental as in the time of the Incas. Doubles from $750. —Jesse Ashlock" - CNT Editors