Belmond Sanctuary Lodge

The Sanctuary Lodge is the only hotel inside the Machu Picchu sanctuary itself — a thirty-one-room property at the gates of the citadel, three minutes from the official entrance. The hotel is modest in infrastructure: standard rooms, restaurant with adequate cooking, limited wellness facilities. What it offers is something no other property can: physical proximity to the site at hours when the site is empty.

Hotel guests have access at five in the morning, before the first bus from Aguas Calientes arrives. The same guests can remain at the site until after the official closing, walking out through near-empty paths. The property's value is the geography it commands, not the room you sleep in. For photographers, for visitors making Machu Picchu the primary focus of a Peru itinerary, or for returning travellers who want the site without the crowds, the premium is what time inside the sanctuary costs.