When I first visited Cusco six years ago, there was the Monasterio, the Libertador Palacio del Inka, and there was…everyone else. If you wanted a luxury experience, you stayed at one of those two hotels and that was that.

As Peru has gotten more popular, the luxury hotel scene has expanded to match, to the point where when a new  boutique hotel opens up in Cusco now, there’s a collective yawn from the press. That’s too bad, because the Aranwa Cusco Boutique Hotel is worth a shout—especially considering the rates. It may not break new ground, but it offers a great experience for the price.

While Aranwa’s Cusco property isn’t going to outdo the Monasterio or several other top hotels in Cusco’s historic center, it’s still a fine hotel that provides a combination of Cusco’s colonial environment and an element of luxury only seen near the city’s top level of rates. The price is good, the bathrooms are great, the hotel doesn’t sit on a steep hill, and there’s free oxygen pumping into every room.

Cusco’s luxury hotel rates can be hard to swallow if you’re not with a tour group that has negotiated down the price, so we’re happy to see someone come in to add more competition. See our full review of Aranwa Cusco.

See more of the best luxury hotels in Peru.

The annual Travel & Leisure hotel issue is out now, with lots of info on hotel trends and where we’re headed. As usual, the have a top-10 list of hotels for each region, plus some picks for the most notable new hotel openings of the year. I always think these readers’ lists are pretty screwy since only so many people are willing to wade through that long survey—mostly people with plenty of time on their hands instead of a business to run. Plus it’s easy to ballot stuff. But still, since we have reviews of 10 out of the 10, I’m not going to quibble about who should and shouldn’t be on here. These are their top 10 for Central and South America.

Four Seasons Resort Carmelo – Uruguay
Palacio Duhau Park Hyatt – Argentina (pictured above)
Explora Patagonia – Chile
Alvear Palace Hotel – Argentina
Victoria House – Belize
Hotel Monasterio – Peru
Four Seasons Buenos Aires – Argentina
Hotel Oro Verde Guayaquil – Ecuador
Blancaneaux Lodge – Belize
Turtle Inn – Belize

I have a feeling this list will look very different two years from now, with many superior upstart resorts replacing some of the old guard coasting on name recognition. We shall see…

The first time I visited Peru, about six years ago, the Sacred Valley was an afterthought for most tourists. It was a place you visited on a day trip from Cusco, but not an area where many people spent the night. There were some decent hotels, but nothing to rival what you found on opposite ends of the valley: at Machu Picchu and in Cusco.

It looks like 2010 is going to be the year when the Sacred Valley gets on the luxury travel destination map. We just posted a review of Aranwa Resort and Spa and it outdoes anything that’s been in the area so far. For one thing it occupies a huge amount of land intersected by a river and flanked by misty mountains.

“The hotel’s one hundred spacious rooms are sprinkled in about the property in either a restored 18th century colonial hacienda, the centerpiece of the resort, or in several more modish modern buildings with minimalist décor. Both styles are equal in amenities—LCD TVS, DVD players, working Wi-Fi, mini-fridge, safe, and hydro-massage tub. Every room has a small balcony and the view is more or less spectacular in whichever part of the property you are.”

Aranwa is going to have company soon though: Tambo del Inka—part of the Starwood Luxury Collection—will be opening up this month. Stay tuned as we’ll be reviewing it as soon as our Peru correspondent is in the region.

If you have a small group or family, also check out our review of Urubamba Villas. With these you get your own lovely house and it comes with a cook!

See other luxury hotels in Peru.

We just posted a review of the Libertador Hotel Paracas, on the Pacific Coast of Peru, about three hours south of Lima. In most countries the opening of a luxury oceanfront resort is pretty routine, but in Peru’s case it’s a big deal. Despite having 1,500 miles of coastland, this country has never had anything close to a 5-star hotel on the water unless you count the two with a view in Lima, perched high above the Pacific.

So now there’s a reason to head south besides getting a peek at the Nazca lines.

“It is one of the most dramatic points of Peru’s coastal desert, in close proximity to coastal cliffs and towering sand dunes. Architect Bernardo Fort-Brescia, whose credits include the Four Seasons Dubai and Canyon Ranch Miami, designed the 121-room property made up of two-level white buildings.”

The major nature reserve containing Islas Ballestas is nearby, reached by boat, and the hotel offers excursions to the Nazca Lines or the Tambo Colorado archeological complex.

See our full review here and keep an eye on the reawakening of the Libertador chain. They are busy opening other new hotels in the future and are revamping their ones in Cusco and Arequipa.

If you like to stay at hotels that belong to the Leading Hotels of the World marketing alliance, you can add the ones from Orient-Express in Peru to your list.

All of the Orient-Express properties in Peru are included and these have already been the most notable ones in town anyway. Here are our reviews of the new additions:

Casitas del Colca in the Colca Canyon

Hotel Monasterio in Cusco

Sanctuary Lodge at Machu Picchu

Miraflores Park Hotel in Miraflores, part of Lima