Tambo Del Inka is a luxury resort hotel located in the Sacred Valley of Peru.  I recently stayed here as part of my first trip to south america late last year.  Although I stayed at several hotels during this trip, this hotel was by far the most luxurious.  The staff at this hotel were also excellent especially the Concierge staff that performed check-in and constantly check-up on me during my stay. My every need and travel detail was take care of perfectly. It is truly a world-class place with amazing views and vistas from the expansive grounds of the resort.

This hotel is a member of Starwood Hotels and Resorts which is the chain of hotels I have frequented most in my many years of travelling.  I patronize Starwood most frequently as they have some of the best hotels(W-Hotels, Westin, St. Regis, Sheraton, le Meridien). I am a Platinum Elite member (25 or more stays per year) of their awards program, so I am eligible for upgrades to preferred rooms and suites.  To insure a truly great room experience I used my suite night awards to confirm an upgrade to a junior suite at this property.

For once a hotel is being modest when they describe this room as a junior suite.  The suite had a large living room, separate bedroom with a large walk-in closet and bathroom.  The room was on the ground level and had two patios outside from which you can enjoy the beautiful mountain views. I was happy for the wonderful upgrade and I had plenty of room to relax during my stay.

Another perk of the awards program is being able to choose free breakfast as an amenity.  In this case although the hotel is only required to provide a continental breakfast, I was given access to the full breakfast buffet which had a large selection of many high quality items and fresh squeezed juices.

One unique amenity of this hotel is that it was its own private train station.

This makes it a great place to start your journey to places like Machu Picchu.  The only downside is tour packages bought through hotel are fairly inflated in cost.

The hotel also has a very large spa.  I booked my first night at the hotel using American Express  Fine Hotels and Resorts program.  This provides special discount for luxury hotels booked using your American Express Platinum card.  In this case my first night cost $300, but included a $100 spa credit.  I used this to cover most of the cost of a spa package that included hydrotherapy, a massage, and manicure.  The hydrotherapy was most memorable as I describe it as going to waterpark for adults.  It included a thermal circuit with Wet and Dry Sauna, Several different showers and jacuzzi pools.  And a plunge in the ice cold water bath(now that was a shocker!).

While at the hotel I also tried their upscale restaurant and elected to get the tasting menu.  I neglected to take picture of the menu but try to guess which of the courses is Cuy (This is staple of Peru’s cuisine, google it if your curious).

This was an expensive meal in a fairly empty restaurant.  While not the best meal I’ve ever had, it was an impressive display of local ingredients presented as Haute Cuisine.

This was a very memorable stay at what is my favorite hotel in South America.  While expensive,  this is truly a five star resort.  I paid $300 for my first night but as a category 5 hotel I was able to save my cash and use 12,000 hotel points per night for the last two nights of my stay. Despite the high cost in cash and points I really enjoyed my stay and would not hesitate to come back.