Miraflores Park, A Belmond Hotel, Lima

Belmond's approach to luxury travel centres on place and heritage, threading each property into the cultural and geographical fabric of its destination. In Lima, that means the clifftop enclave of Miraflores, where the hotel occupies a prime position overlooking the Pacific. The neighbourhood hums with a particular energy: joggers trace the malecón boardwalk at dawn, paragliders drift above the surf, and the scent of anticuchos drifts from corner carts as dusk settles. Within walking distance, Parque Kennedy fills with street vendors and impromptu concerts, while the modernist sweep of Larcomar shopping centre clings to the cliff face, its terraces offering unobstructed ocean views.

Lima itself is a city of layered histories. The colonial heart, inscribed as a UNESCO World Heritage Site, lies ten kilometres inland, where earthquake-scarred palaces and gilded churches recall the city's centuries as the seat of Spanish South American power. Miraflores, by contrast, feels coastal and cosmopolitan, its boulevards lined with cafés, galleries, and pre-Columbian ruins like Huaca Pucllana, a 1,500-year-old adobe pyramid now floodlit at night.

Jorge Chávez International Airport is sixteen kilometres away, accessible via the Vía Expresa coastal highway.

The property's dining programme reflects Lima's standing as South America's culinary capital, though no Michelin-starred restaurants operate within the city as yet. The hotel's own restaurant leans into Peruvian tradition, with dishes built around coastal ingredients: corvina ceviche brightened with ají amarillo, octopus charred over wood, quinoa treated with the attention usually reserved for rice in other cuisines. Book a table at one of Miraflores' acclaimed neighbourhood restaurants, many within walking distance, where chefs are redefining Peruvian gastronomy through techniques that marry indigenous crops with global influences. The Bioferia de Miraflores, just over a kilometre away, runs on Saturdays and offers organic produce, artisan cheeses, and freshly baked empanadas in a park setting.

Cultural exploration begins with Huaca Pucllana, the illuminated pre-Inca site where you can walk among tiered platforms that predate the Incas by nearly a millennium. The Historic Centre of Lima, ten kilometres east, rewards a morning: Plaza Mayor, the Archbishop's Palace with its carved wooden balconies, and the Monastery of San Francisco, where catacombs hold thousands of colonial-era remains. Redondo II beach lies just two hundred metres from the property, while surf lessons and board rentals are available at nearby breaks along the Costa Verde.

Lima's climate defies easy categorisation. The city sits in a desert, yet garúa, a fine coastal mist, blankets the streets from May through October, softening the light and giving the air a damp chill despite mild temperatures. The sun breaks through decisively from December to April, when the malecón fills with families and the ocean turns from grey-green to cerulean.

Summer, spanning December through March, brings warmth and clarity, with daytime highs reaching the mid-twenties Celsius. This is beach season, when paragliders launch from the cliffs and terraces stay open late. Winter's garúa transforms the city into something more introspective: temperatures hover in the high teens, the Pacific churns, and the mist lends a moody beauty to coastal walks.

Visit between December and April for sun and outdoor energy, or embrace the atmospheric grey of June through August if you prefer quieter streets and dramatic seascapes.