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A bed with a view at Machu Picchu Sanctuary Lodge, where some suites by the ancient Inca site can cost more than $1,000 a night.
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ORIENT-EXPRESS HOTELS

A bed with a view at Machu Picchu Sanctuary Lodge, where some suites by the ancient Inca site can cost more than $1,000 a night.

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If you go

Cuzco, Peru

Hotels

There are places in Peru where your tourism dollars will go directly to help the local population. Some recommendations in Cuzco:

• Niños Hotel, Calle Meloq 442, Cuzco, www.ninoshotel.com. An immaculate, two-star hotel in an old Cuzco mansion. Profits support poor children in the area, who are given housing, schooling or food. Double with private bathroom, $36.

• Hostal San Juan de Dios, Manzanares Avenue 264 in the Urbanizacion Manuel Prado, Cuzco, www.hostalsanjuandedios.com. Located a short taxi ride from the Plaza de Armas. Your stay funds the San Juan de Dios Clinic, providing care to underprivileged children with disabilities in Cuzco. Ten double rooms, $35 a night.

• Hostal Marani, Carmen El Alto 194, San Blas, Cuzco, www.hostalmarani.com. Basic hostel whose proceeds help local street children with health and education projects. Double room, $38 a night.

• Homestay in Cusco, Cuesta San Blas 561, Cuzco, www.homestayincusco.com. One of dozens of homestay tour operators in Cuzco. Offers visitors a chance to get to know local people, their customs and the local cooking. Weeklong single-bed homestays with a Cuzqueño family for around $90.

Luxury hotels

Among the high-end, newer hotels:

• Machu Picchu Sanctuary Lodge, Cuzco, Peru, www.machupicchu.orient-express.com. This all-inclusive 29-room lodge is the only hotel within the Machu Picchu Sanctuary, and a rest stop for celebrities such as Cameron Diaz and Bill Gates. Rates range from $795 for the most basic double room to $1,320 for a suite. Rooms with a view of Huayna Picchu, the scraggy mountain that looms over the ancient citadel, start at $965 a night.

• Its sister property, El Monasterio — http://monasterio.orient-express.com — was converted into Cuzco's ultimate luxury hotel from a 16th-century Jesuit monastery. Rooms range from $495 for a basic double to $1,590 for the royal suite. Extra oxygen to fight altitude sickness is available for an additional $40.

• Inkaterra Urubamba Villas, www.inkaterra.com. This popular Peruvian line of eco-friendly luxury hotels offers five exclusive villas in the Sacred Valley, a quiet and bucolic setting about 45 minutes from Cuzco, close to ancient Inca ruins. The snowcapped Andes tower over the valley. Two-bedroom villas cost $300 a night for two people with a two-night minimum. Breakfast and dinner are included.

• Casa Andina Private Collection-Sacred Valley, www.casa-andina.com. This chain operates hotels all over Peru. This 85-room property in the Sacred Valley has a fully-equipped spa, or relax in its planetarium and observatory. Rates including breakfast buffet range from $149-$229.

• El Libertador Palacio del Inka, Plazoleta Santo Domingo 259, www.libertador.com.pe. This 240-room hotel is one of only two five-star hotels in Cuzco. Located downtown, near major tourist attractions. Basic doubles for $285 including buffet breakfast.

— Leslie Josephs, Associated Press

With four-digit inflation and violent Maoist guerrillas, Peru for many years was hardly the place for a seaweed wrap in a swank hotel.

But nowadays, relative peace and a booming economy draw boutique travelers to the Andean terrain and ancient ruins that were previously the domain of brave, budget-conscious backpackers.

Celebrity tourists Bill Gates and Cameron Diaz both recently visited Machu Picchu, where $965 a night gets you a room with a view of the famous Inca citadel. In nearby Cuzco, elevation 11,500 feet, you can have extra oxygen pumped into your room for $40 a night.

Yet as free-market President Alan Garcia speeds the development of Peru's high-end tourism sector, he is sparking a standoff with local residents who say they won't benefit from the boom. Earlier this year, protesters shut Cuzco's airport and blocked the only rail line to Machu Picchu to make their point.

"Cuzco no se vende!" they shouted in demonstrations: "Cuzco is not for sale!"

It is a longtime paradox in Peru, where the economy expanded 9 percent in 2007 for the ninth year in a row. But poverty persists, especially in many of the highland tourist destinations, affecting some 44 percent of the 27 million population.