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No matter what your travel budget, you won't be priced out of the market staying in Cusco: luxury hotels, backpackers' digs, and everything in between await. Most lodgings discount rates during the unofficial off-season of September through May. With a few exceptions, the international hotel chains are absent. In their place are smaller, top-end, independently run lodgings offering impeccable service, even if some lack swimming pools and concierges. Lodgings in all price ranges, whether in a former 17th-century convent or newly built, mimic the old Spanish-colonial style of construction arranged around a central courtyard or patio.
You may have to adjust your internal thermostat in moderate or budget lodgings at this altitude, but all provide extra blankets and may have electric heaters available at an extra charge. High-end establishments have heating. Most places provide hot water around the clock, but if you're wondering, just ask if there's agua caliente. Many accommodations keep an oxygen supply on hand for those having trouble adjusting to the thin air.
A boutique hotel housed in a colonial mansion, Andenes is located just a few blocks from the Plaza de Armas but offers a quiet respite from the crowds there. A number of services are offered, including airport pickup, Wi-Fi, a full buffet breakfast, and oxygen (upon request), and rooms are also heated, an unusual and very welcome bonus. The rooftop terrace is the perfect place to relax and look out over the city below.
Occupying a three-story casa on the upper end of Choqechaka near Calle Siete Borreguitos, this hostel has a handful of affordable, smart en suite doubles with warm wooden floors and beautiful views of the valley and surrounding mountains. It's also very close to Calle Siete Borreguitos and a 20-minute walk to the Cristo Blanco.
For lodging with a social conscience, this is a great budget option: proceeds from your stay at the "Children's Hotel" provide medical and dental care, food, and recreation for disadvantaged cusqueño children who attend day care on premises and cheerfully greet you as you enter the courtyard. Rooms are on the spartan side, with painted hardwood floors, but the mattresses are firm and comfy, and there's plenty of hot water. The place is immensely popular, so much so that it's developed two nearby sister properties, Fierro and budget-savvy Niños House, the farthest of the three from downtown.
