Rio Sagrado, A Belmond Hotel sits beside the Urubamba River in Peru’s Sacred Valley, 46 km from Cusco at a lower, gentler altitude ideal for acclimatisation, with its own private train station where the Hiram Bingham stops in season. The site states it has 11 suites, 10 rooms and 2 villas, from Deluxe Terrace rooms and Garden Junior Suites to the three-bedroom Villa Q’inti and signature Villa Maras with a full kitchen and fireplace. Dining spans El Huerto for seasonal Andean cooking from the garden, the outdoor riverside El Jardin by resident alpacas with a live grill and pachamanca and the El Huerto Bar over the river with a signature sacred-smoke cocktail.
There is the Mayu Willka Spa with treatment rooms, a couple’s room, indoor-outdoor jacuzzi, steam room and Inca shower, plus a heated outdoor pool with mountain views. Built to resemble a rural Peruvian village, it offers baby-alpaca feeding, a shaman ceremony, e-bikes, a cooking class and Machu Picchu excursions. Part of Belmond, it suits travellers wanting a serene wellness-focused hideaway and acclimatisation base for the Sacred Valley and Machu Picchu, from couples to families.