JW Marriott El Convento Cusco

The JW Marriott El Convento occupies a 16th-century Augustinian convent at the corner of Calle Ruinas and San Agustín, a short walk from the Plaza de Armas and San Pedro Market. A stone shield carved with the emblem of the Augustinian order still greets guests in the entrance hall, and the hotel blends this colonial setting with the facilities of an international luxury brand.

One of its most interesting features is the Exhibition Hall, an on-site museum displaying artefacts from the Killke period, roughly 900 to 1200 AD, before the rise of the Inca. The Killke people are also linked by some archaeologists to the first building on the hill of Sacsayhuamán, so the collection makes a good introduction to Cusco's deep history before you head out to the archaeological sites, and you do not need to leave the building to see it. At reception, a Swarovski light installation with 76,500 crystals represents Inti, the Inca sun god.

The hotel has 153 rooms and suites. Rooms surround a cobbled courtyard, some looking over the cloisters and others towards the mountains, and some have small balconies. Marble bathrooms and good linens are standard, and the hotel's position makes it easy to walk back for a rest between sights. Cusco sits at around 3,400 metres, one of the highest permanently inhabited cities in the world, so oxygen-enrichment systems are available in the rooms to help ease altitude sickness, which can make the first nights more comfortable.

Qespi is the hotel's Peruvian restaurant, with a bar where you can start the evening with a pisco sour. The spa offers a traditional Inca healing treatment, and there is a swimming pool. High season runs from May to October, when it is wise to book well ahead.

The hotel suits couples, families and business travellers who want the reliability of a large international hotel with a strong sense of place. It is particularly convenient for walking: the Plaza de Armas and San Pedro Market, with its juice stalls, soup counters and Andean produce, are both a short walk away, and the Cathedral and the Compañía stand on the main square.