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explora Valle Sagrado
Urubamba, Peru · Explora · Grand Luxury
Explora Valle Sagrado opened on July 1, 2016 as the brand's first lodge outside Chile, its construction complicated for years by Inca ruins that kept surfacing on the building site. Architect José Cruz Ovalle, winner of Chile's 2012 National Architecture Award, built the 50-room hacienda-style lodge on a historic corn plantation near the village of Urquillos, with a spa inside a restored 17th-century colonial house.
- 50 rooms
- Opened 2016
- Neighborhood: Urquillos
- Architect: José Cruz Ovalle
About explora Valle Sagrado
- Construction dragged on for years because crews kept uncovering Inca ruins during excavation, forcing the design team to relocate the lodge's footprint three times before building could proceed.
- The Pumacahua Spa occupies a restored 17th-century colonial manor on the property, with an outdoor pool, saunas and hot tubs.
- At roughly 9,500 feet above sea level near Urubamba, the lodge sits lower than Cusco, a common first stop for altitude acclimatization before Machu Picchu.
- It won Peru's Leading Lodge at the 2025 World Travel Awards and a MICHELIN One Key the same year.
History
Explora Valle Sagrado opened on July 1, 2016 as the seventh venture from the Chilean adventure-lodge brand Explora and its first property outside Chile. Architect José Cruz Ovalle, who had already designed Explora's Torres del Paine and Easter Island lodges, took on the commission; construction stretched on for years because crews repeatedly uncovered Inca ruins while excavating the foundations, forcing the design to be relocated multiple times before building could proceed.
The finished 50-room lodge (44 standard rooms and six suites) sits on a historic corn, quinoa and kiwicha plantation near the village of Urquillos, framed by the Urubamba mountain range and the Maras plateau. Its Pumacahua Spa occupies a restored 17th-century colonial manor on the grounds, with an outdoor pool, saunas and hot tubs. At roughly 9,500 feet above sea level, the lodge sits at a lower altitude than nearby Cusco, making it a common acclimatization stop for travelers en route to Machu Picchu.
The setting
42 km from Alejandro Velasco Astete International Airport.
Restaurants and bars
- MIL — Restaurant · Peruvian · Chef Virgilio Martínez
Amenities
- Spa
- Pool
- Sauna
- Hot tub
Awards
- MICHELIN One Key (2026)
- Peru's Leading Lodge 2025 (World Travel Awards) (2025)
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More Explora hotels
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- Explora Rapa Nui — Easter Island, Chile · Grand Luxury
- Explora Torres del Paine — Torres del Paine, Chile · Grand Luxury
- Explora El Calafate — El Calafate, Argentina · High Luxury
- Explora Patagonia National Park — Chacabuco Valley, Chile · High Luxury
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- Inkaterra Hacienda Urubamba — Inkaterra · Grand Luxury
- Rio Sagrado, A Belmond Hotel, Sacred Valley — Belmond · Grand Luxury
- Sol y Luna — Independent · High Luxury
- Aranwa Sacred Valley Hotel & Wellness — Aranwa · Accessible Luxury
- Miski Samay Domo Boutique — Independent · Accessible Luxury
- Willka T'ika — Independent · Near Luxury
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