Just two blocks from the heart of the fascinating city of Cusco, this renovated mansion offers luxury service and loads of period art for your perusal.

Cusco is a terrific jumping-off place for day trips and longer excursions to Machu Picchu, the Inca Trail, and other historically important destinations. Bird watching, horseback riding, and hiking all are excellent in this area. The city itself holds a bountiful array of museums on different themes. Cusco is a great place to eat, too: an array of pubs and restaurants offer international cuisine in addition to the Andean fare that isn’t to be missed.

Aranwa Cusco Boutique Hotel has a large fireplace in the lobby. It’s the perfect place for guests to relax. You might also appreciate sitting outdoors at a shaded table in one of the hotel’s two courtyards. But the real mood of this mansion is set by the art. A large collection of period art, sculpture, and furniture is shared throughout the hotel’s common spaces and rooms. The hallways are lined with art and windows.

Each of the 43 rooms contain paintings and a mixture of classic and modern furniture. The beds certainly have a classic appeal, and all rooms provide either a king-size bed or two queens. Technology in the rooms, meanwhile, certainly is modern: all rooms have wireless Internet, satellite TV, an iPod dock and CD player, and telephones with national and international dialing. Each room also provides an oxygen system to help you adjust, if need be, to Cusco’s altitude, as well as room climate control. Other amenities include a hair dryer, mini-bar, electronic safe, and iron and ironing board.

The bathrooms are truly spectacular. They are warmed with a floor heating system, which can feel relaxing after a long day of hiking in Peru’s cool heights. Sophisticated Scottish showers may make you feel like you have a private spa at hand, and some rooms feature Jacuzzi jets in the bathtub. Heated towel racks add a nice touch, as does the organic bath products, bathrobes, and slippers. Marble themes tie together the modern and period furnishings.

The hotel’s basic rooms are furnished with a dressing table and electric chandelier light fixtures. Calm color themes make the bedroom relaxing; carved, dark wooden doors conceal the closets. Some rooms add an extra touch with colonial fresco-style decoration around the ceilings; others include a small sitting table for two. If you have view preferences, you can ask for a room facing either the city or the hotel’s courtyard.

Suites offer much more space. A distinct living room is set with sofas and a coffee table. They feature a balcony facing outward from the hotel.

Housekeeping is offered twice daily. The staff at this hotel has earned an excellent reputation for their service.

The restaurant integrates international flavors and techniques with traditional Peruvian fare. They serve this menu in the dining room fitted with chandelier lighting and art. The outdoor seating is gorgeous in a different way, arranged on the edge of the hotel’s courtyard. The courtyard, classic and stone-lined, boasts a fountain and plants.

The hotel’s bar serves tapas and first courses, ranging from the perhaps more familiar prawns in garlic aioli foam or potato omelet with chorizo, to more adventurous combinations such as chicken kebabs in chili-passion fruit sauce to grilled octopus with chimichurri. An extensive cocktail menu spotlights pisco inspirations, such as Cholo Punch or Capitán. Whiskey Eggnogg, Peruvian Paradise, and Peruvian Coffee Connection are among many others.