Explora Valle Sagrado — Hotel in Huayllabamba

We just returned from a spectacular experience at Explora Sacred Valley. From the moment we arrived to the moment we departed, the staff and service was excellent -- friendly, informative, and organized. Everybody we encountered made us feel welcome, and everything we did over the 8 days we stayed came off seamlessly.

The rooms are intentionally simple so as not to detract from the beautiful views of the fields and mountains behind the hotel. But despite the simplicity of design, this is a luxury property with jetted tubs, fluffy towels, and nightly turn-down service (complete with chocolate), and a glorious spa and outdoor jacuzzis, surrounded by flowering plants.

The bar and the restaurant are first class. If you have never experienced Peruvian food, this is a perfect opportunity to learn why Peru is considered a gourmet destination. All of the meals are locally sourced, delicious and visually stunning (including a fantastic breakfast spread), and set you up well for the explorations that are the core of the experience.

As for those explorations: I honestly cannot say enough good things about them. Over the course of 8 days, we did 10 explorations (a mix of full and half day). Each one offered something unique in terms of history, geography, nature, and/or degree of difficulty/altitude. On these treks, we never encountered other tourists and even had small opportunities to connect with local people.

The guides on the explorations were absolutely exceptional. Each one -- and we got to experience several -- brought not only deep knowledge, but also their own personalities and interests. You never felt like you were on a standard tour with a standard "talk track." The guides shared what they were passionate about, but also had the wisdom to know when to be quiet and let you enjoy the experience on your own terms.

But make no mistake, these are serious and well-trained people. They keep a close eye on how you are accommodating both the altitude and degree of difficulty on various treks. As a result, when you connect with them every evening in front of the fire to choose your next day's activities, they have a very good sense of what you are ready to do and can help you make good choices.

The Sacred Valley is beautiful and interesting -- much more than a stopover on the way to Machu Picchu. Explora makes the experience...

My husband and I visited Explora Sacred Valley a couple weeks ago, and this was seriously our dream vacation. From the moment we pulled up to the driveway, we felt at home. The warmth and caring nature of every staff member at Explora is really what defined our stay - they genuinely care that you get exactly the trip you're hoping for, experience Peruvian culture, and they also make every effort to know you as an individual. Every little touch was so thoughtfully attended to, for example fresh juices and snacks and cheese set up by the driver at the end of a long hike, or our guide learning from our previous day's guide that my husband's knee was hurting, so specially packing ice for him. Every evening meeting with our guide was so thorough, helping us feel confident and excited for our next day's adventure. It was incredible to be able to pick whichever experience we wanted - from biking to Inca ruins to any all-day hike we preferred, and Explora would do the rest. ||The guides are phenomenal - so funny, knowledgeable, and passionate about nature, culture, and history. We learned they go through 3 months of rigorous training, and it shows. We felt like friends with all of them by the end.||The hotel property is also unbelievably beautiful - the yoga room, restaurant with spectacular views, and the coziness of the rooms. I wish we could have stayed another week there!! We love Explora and can't wait to visit the...

Great property, really unreasonable booking policies!!! BEWAREEEE. We made a reservation to Explora Sacred Valley for a December 2022 trip right before Christmas. Very much looking forward to the trip but as we all know with protests in Peru, and the shutdown of the airport in Cusco, as well as the destruction of the railway between Cusco and Machu Pichu, it really makes the travel to Explora basically impossible and pointless.

We have been communicating with the Explora team to get a full refund for our stay, but their policy is basically only allowing a rebooking to new dates, or a change to their other lodges, (which basically is not an option because they are all full already at other lodges for our times of travel.) Every other travel provider we have already talked to including airlines, trek providers have been offering full refunds minus small processing fees.

We, as I'm sure as many others reading this, are very sympathetic towards the situation in Peru and Cusco, but we as tourists as just trying to see the best of the country. Explora is a high-end experience and many of us have planned specifically around it to make the most of our experience at Explora. The current booking policies are HOLDING HOSTAGE our money for an experience we are unable to even partake in right now.

So please BEWARE before you book your trips with them in the future!! I HAVE HEARD MANY OTHER RESORTS IN THE AREA ARE MUCH...