The street facade tells the story before you step inside: Inca stonework at the base, precisely fitted without mortar, gives way to colonial Spanish masonry above, the whole composition crowned by a carved pink andesite portal that dates to the seventeenth century. Palacio Nazarenas, which Belmond opened in 2012 after extensive restoration of this former convent and colonial mansion in Cusco's centro histórico, is built on Inca foundations that still form the lower courses of its perimeter walls — a layering of civilisations that no new-build could manufacture. The 55 suites are arranged around multiple courtyards, the older of which retain the whitewashed arcaded galleries, terracotta-tiled balustrades, and dark timber columns visible in the images, geraniums massed in clay pots along the upper corridors in a tradition that feels entirely uncontrived. The interiors take their cue from the Spanish colonial casona rather than reaching for Andean exoticism. Four-poster beds with wrought-iron frames sit on handmade terracotta tile floors, carved walnut headboards and faded kilim-style rugs grounding the rooms in local craft without folklorism. The pool courtyard introduces a contemporary note — cobalt blue mosaic tile, teal parasols, wrought-iron café chairs — while the surrounding arched colonnade and upper timber balcony keep the ensemble anchored in its sixteenth-century shell. Andean mountain ranges frame the balcony views beyond the rooftiles, a reminder that the altitude here sits just above 3,400 metres.

Palacio Nazarenas and Monasterio are adjacent to one another

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