Had my doubts about the Inkaterra based upon the divergent reviews, but friends raved about their stay; the ambiance, the food, the orchids, so we decided to stay and splurge on the hotel. I contacted the hotel directly and "negotiated" for dinner only in the package and arrived at a price that seemed expensive, but "fair".
After a spectacular day at Machu Picchu, as we approached the hotel to register, my husband said those words one hates to hear while traveling "I'm not feeling so hot"......and by the time we handed over our passports, he was turning green and it was obvious he was sick, really sick.
I asked for a room that didn't require a lot of climbing and we were given Room 5. A lovely room with three beds.......little did I know we'd be using all three as our "hospital" beds for the next three days.
Less than an hour after checking in the hotel, it was clear we were both struck down by food or water poisoning (presumably from the buffet lunch at Machu Picchu or breakfast elsewhere) and we asked the staff to help us get an appointment with a doctor for my husband. Within a half an hour after the request, the doctor arrived in our room and examined us, etc. He prescibed medications and told us it was a matter of time.....His nurse came a few hours later; and then around 10:30 at night, in the pouring rain, the doctor returned to check on us because the hotel staff had expressed concern about our well being.
Throughout our three night stay, the hotel staff checked on us, brought us tea and biscuits, changed our sheets and cleaned the room on our schedule and brought Gatorade and drinks on a regular basis.
One night they brought food for us to try and when we were better, made sure our dinner arrangements were made.
Do we wish we didn't have to learn about the professionalism of staff while ill....you bet. But they jumped through hoops to help us and kept us in the same room beyond our reservation; changed our train reservations and made certain we could join the orchid and bird tours on our final day after check out.
This is a hotel that provides housing and language classes for all their employees as part of their training. All tips are shared within service areas to encourage staff to respond to requests whether or not one is the primary server. Young people are given certificates upon completion of classes so they can use them when applying for jobs elsewhere in the tourism world. (I interviewed the manager on the last day because I was curious about the level of professionalism and the friendliness of the staff to two sickly Americans who didn't exactly look very spiffy)
Agua Calientes isn't a great place for young people to live, it is a tourist destination and the Inkaterra is to be congratulated for developing a training strategy that makes young people from Lima and elsewhere to want to work/study at the hotel.
At the time we were at the Inkaterra, I (privately) wanted them to discount our stay because we missed several of the dinners. In retrospect, the staff probably spent more time and effort on our care than most travelers need or want. Hip hip hooray for well trained and well managed staff.
Most people stay at the Inkaterra for one night and possibly two.
It is a place that one should consider for at least two and perhaps three nights just to enjoy the grounds and lovely environs beyond Machu Picchu.
This is a five star hotel that earned everyone of the stars in our book.

The grounds of Inkaterra Pueblo are incredible. Not only gorgeous, but peaceful with a beautiful restaurant. The service is incredible, every time we would come back to the room, there would be a small gift waiting for us, such as a wrist coin purse, or a bottle water carrier. This is one of the most beautiful places I've stayed in the world.

A wonderful MUST. Bungalow style rooms in a beautiful natural setting. In addition to having a wonderful environment, the service is excellent: greet you with a map and advise of what the hotel offers, which include: Lounge area with free Pisco Sour (lounge is a great setting with lots of tangerines); walking tour of the grounds, free dinner and m=so many nice amnetiies to help make your stay truly enjoyable! The service is amazing even with security walking around the hotel property in the evening. From the luggage pick up/drop off at the train station; to the quality of the food; comfort of the hotel rooms... a must! My only regret is not staying there for more than one night.

This hotel is a little pricey but it's worth every dollar! We stayed 2 nights for $840USD. The service is excellent. The food was pretty good. The rooms we large and the bathroom was even bigger! The location was perfect right near the train station. The best reason to book this hotel is there tours to Machu Picchu. Again, the tour is a bit pricey but it's Machu Picchu! For $180USD each we had a private tour for the day... just the 2 of us and our guide Beto (He was excellent). We started out at 7AM to meet Beto and take the bus to the ruins. We wanted to hike Wayna Picchu (It's the mountain in the background in all the photos of the ruins) to get another view of the ruins. This is totally worth it. It's a steep hike and takes about an hour and a half. Trust me it's so worth it, they only allow 400 people hike up mountain a day so get in early. After, we had lunch which was included in our price and our guide got us in before all the large tour groups then toured the ruins. Having a private guide was great since all the other tours had 20-30 people. The hotel also offers tours of the property for free. The twilight tour is really cool too! Overall the hotel was great, but the tours they offered were outstanding!