Long before all the flashy new hotels opened up in the Sacred Valley of Peru, Sol y  Luna (Sun and Moon) had staked out a spot in Urubamba.

Over the years the orginal small lodge mirrored Peru’s tourism industry, expanding and going more upscale as the number of visitors increased. Now Sol y Luna has 42 casitas, a well-regarded spa, and a strong tradition of giving back to the community.

One of our contributors stayed here and mentioned the lodge in our feature story Walking Peru with Butterfield and Robinson. Now we’ve got a full review of it. Here’s a taste:

Private verandas face terraced mountainsides with garden views and lounge chairs that beckon upon arrival. And extravagance registers in deceptively simple touches: colorful Peruvian folk art, indigenous woods, hand-painted frescoed murals, and a hot water bottle in the bed at night.

Yes, there are newer and trendier places to stay among the luxury hotels of the Sacred Valley, but this one has been tied into the community since the start and will really make you feel like you’re in Peru.

See our full review of Sol y Luna Lodge and Spa.

The Colca Canyon is a brown place. In rainy season the flowers bloom and there’s plenty of green, but the overall color is brown, punctuated by pretty white churches in the village centers.

When I left the Orient-Express Casitas del Colca hotel and the driver began the journey back to Arequipa, however, I had a stroke of terrific luck.

As we eased our way through Chivay, going slowly because of all the pedestrians, “Stop!” I said suddenly. Before the driver could say no, I was out of the car with my camera, getting close to the action in the town square.

As so often happens in Latin America, it was festival time. Stay long enough and you’re bound to run into one. I was there in early December, which coincides with the big Wititi Festival.

Instead of earth tones, it was time for a riot of color. Beautiful costumes, dancing, and marching bands. This is Peru at its finest.

See more on luxury tours in Peru.

We’ve run a couple luxury travel in Peru tour stories about upscale, small-ship cruises in the Peruvian Amazon, but we haven’t been able to get anyone out to Inkaterra’s Reserva Amazonica lodge there, the best jungle lodge in Peru, if not the whole Amazon region.

I’m happy to say we’ve rectified that. Contributor Ellen Barone, who recently wrote the story on Butterfield & Robinson’s walking tour in Peru, pulled out a machete and hacked her way through the rainforest to Inkaterra’s resort.

No, just kidding. It’s not really all that daunting: a 45-minute boat ride from river port Maldonado and you’re there. Most of the creatures you see on excursions won’t be human though. The lodge is at the heart of a 42,000-acre private ecological reserve. Here’s what’s in store when you get to your spacious cabana:

King-size beds with billowing mosquito netting. Fluffy robes and slippers. Sumptuous towels and signature organic toiletries. And screened decks with comfy lounge chairs and hammocks. They’re also outfitted with practical extras like umbrellas, flashlight, ceiling fan and Kerosene lanterns.

This carbon-neutral resort walks the walk when it comes to eco-tourism though. It’s the winner of both the 2012 Tourism for Tomorrow Award for Conservation and the 2012 Green Choice Sustainable Tourism Award.

See our full review of the Inkaterra Amazon jungle lodge in Peru.

I mentioned Hotel Paracas in my last post as this was my base while exploring the Ballestas Islands nearby and the Nazca Lines a bit south of there by Cessna plane. (See the tour story on Ballestas and Nazca here.)

You often see luxury hotels referred to as a jewel, a diamond in the rough, or an oasis. It happens so often that in travel writing classes they tell you to avoid these terms altogether at the risk you’ll sound like a hack. But if I were to use those terms, this fine resort, run by Libertador, would fit the description. Here’s a video tour so you can get a feel for the place. For more details, see our review of Hotel Paracas.

There’s always a lot going on from a tourism standpoint in the dynamic region of Latin America. Generally we leave the travel news reporting to others, but here are some new and noteworthy developments we wanted to highlight.

Hotel Sazagua in Colombia's Coffee Triangle region

The Coffee Triangle of Columbia has just been approved as a new UNESCO World Heritage site. International arrivals increased by 15.4% during the first quarter of this year for Columbia, with the U.S. sending more tourists than any other country. With a new open skies agreement in place, even more flights from the U.S. should arise soon. See more on the Colombia Tourism website and if you decide to go, check out our reviews of the best luxury hotels in Colombia.

Although it’s hard to imagine now, a century ago Machu Picchu was unknown except to some indigenous people living in the area of what is now Aguas Calientes. Then Hiram Bingham showed up with his expedition party and now it’s a struggle to keep the visitor numbers under the long-promised 2,500 per day. If you want to celebrate the discovery, you can ride the train that bears Hiram Bingham’s name and stay at the Orient-Express Sanctuary Lodge. Or take your time and relax in the Sacred Valley instead: Aranwa Hotels is running some promotional deals in honor of the anniversary.

Guadalajara, Mexico lives in the 2nd-city shadow of the capital most of the time, but it hosts multiple festivals throughout the year that bring in lots of visitors. Coming up in about a month is the International Mariachi Festival. Follow that link if you read Spanish, or see a description in English here and here. Several new chain hotels are on the way there, but our first choice will probably always be the  intimate Villa Ganz.

Growing Brazil has another sign that it’s economy is booming, but I’m not sure this is one to be proud of: Sao Paulo is now one of the 10 most expensive cities in the world for expatriates’ living expenses. Ouch! “Sao Paulo jumped from 27th place to tenth on the latest Cost of Living survey from Mercer. The survey covers 214 cities across five continents and measures the comparative cost of over 200 items in each location, including housing, transport, food, clothing, household goods and entertainment.”

Rio was barely behind it, at 12th place—far above anyone else in Latin America. No wonder the best hotels in Brazil are so overpriced compared to their neighbors.