Belmond Sanctuary Lodge
The only hotel next to Machu Picchu
When you take the shuttle bus up from Aguas Calientes to Machu Picchu, you’ll see there is one hotel on the parking lot where the shuttle drops you off. This is the famed Belmond Sanctuary Lodge.
The restaurant is open to the public and is much better than the snack bar near the Machu Picchu entrance.
From the grounds, you don’t actually get a view of Machu Picchu. Below is the little peekaboo that you get from the top of the garden area through the trees to the top of Huayna Picchu.
The only reason I would stay at the Sanctuary Lodge would be if I wanted to enter Machu Picchu before the first shuttle arrives at 6:00am. If being at Machu Picchu at dawn, without any other tourists is your priority, then you should consider the Belmond.
However, there are a lot more reasons I wouldn’t stay there. First, you’re completely cut off from the town. It’s not that easy to go out for dinner, so make sure you like the menu at the lodge restaurant before you book. Considering the price you pay, the rooms are very small and cramped. I didn’t even try to get a good photo with my camera when I checked out the rooms. They were so small I just took vertical shots with my phone.
Even worse, the coffee wasn’t good. The food was good, but it was not the exceptional food you would expect for the Belmond. Worse than that, I found the management disorganized and unhelpful.