There's already some info on this place in these two threads, but I think I observed enough there to justify a new sheet.
Context
I was in Cuzco recently and had 3 nights out over a span of 10 days (due to doing a trek for the rest). My only notch was a backpacker chick on my last night there, but I had a decent amount of interaction with the locals as well. I am a white American in my early-mid 20's, have average looks and height, and speak fluent Spanish. My experience is most likely to be similar to yours if you fall into one or more of these categories.
Bars and Clubs
Cuzco is apparently a shitshow of a city, and every day I went out clubs were packed, including Sunday (disclaimer: this was during the Fiesta del Sol, which is apparently a rather large holiday). I only went out in the immediate Plaza de Armas area and from what I gathered this is where most of the gringos and Peruvian girls who like gringos go, although I'm sure you could find places further off the beaten path if you looked around (I did not unfortunately, so I can't speak on that directly). Most of the crowd at these places tends to be of the early 20s/hippie backpacker variety, so if that's your niche you will be right at home and if it isn't you will struggle unless you adapt or find alternative venues.
Mama Africa's: I went here twice, on a Saturday and a Monday. It was packed by midnight both times, and as was mentioned in the other thread the gender ratio gets progressively worse so get here early. Drinks are more expensive than other places and there's a large proportion of gringos but a fair number of locals as well. Oddly, I saw quite a few more Peruvian girls here than Peruvian guys, possibly because it's a known gringo haunt and lots of bricheras show up to hunt for some white meat. There's a chiller bar area downstairs and the upstairs is a loud dance floor. Located on the west side of Plaza de Armas.
Inka Team: Went on Sunday night and it was packed. Fewer gringos than Mama Africa's and a better gender ratio that seemed to stay fairly constant throughout the night. I had kind of a wasted night here--hooked the first girl I approached here and danced and made out with her until 4am, but didn't get the bang because of a brutal cockblock from her friend. The girls looked approachable though, and I got eyefucked here more than at any other place, so based on this very limited impression I'd say it's likely to be a good spot. Dance floor on the bottom with bar on the second floor; located on the northwest corner of the Plaza.
Groove: Went here early one night and there wasn't much going on, but came back much later (after 2am) and there were a lot more people. I didn't stay long but there seemed to be a decent number of girls here (more than Mama Africa's, fewer than Inka Team) and few gringos. Seems to be more of a late-night spot. Loud, single-floor dance club; located just west of the Plaza.
Game and Girls
The best game in this town seems to be high-energy, life-of-the-party club game. Roll in like you own the fucking place (preferably with a few girls in tow from your hostel), dance and vibe with everybody, be generous with your bankroll (not hard to do when you're dealing in soles), and in general be having the most fun of anybody in the club, and you'll probably be able to pull something out of there. This makes sense to me because the entire scene is built around people coming from foreign countries and other cities in Peru to party and get shitfaced, so naturally if you are doing that better than anyone else then people will be drawn to that. The people I saw making out at the end of the night were the ones who were being active and putting out a fun, energetic vibe earlier on. The number one rule here is don't be a wallflower.
If you speak conversational Spanish or better you will have a significant leg up over most of the gringos, as I encountered very few who really had solid language skills. A lot of the foreign crowd here doesn't seem to very hardcore into the culture--many just stop by because they want to visit Machu Picchu. Don't rely on Spanish talking game to get you laid, though--being fun and dominant is more important than anything else, and it's easy to fall into the trap of talking too much and not doing enough to pump up the girls' buying temperature through dancing etc. My first night here, I made the mistake of thinking I could use my Spanish to stand out without being particularly aggressive, and the result was a series of 10-15 minute conversations that went nowhere. My sense is that girls here are more interested in having fun than meeting a cool, interesting guy. If you don't have good Spanish, just go caveman--if you're a white gringo it will still give you a good shot.
The Peruvian girls here are very friendly and approachable. They'll smile when smiled at, and will readily engage you in a conversation (which can be a double-edged sword if they're just being polite and you don't realize it). I didn't get blown out on a single approach in 3 nights out here. For openers, I recommend keeping it simple--think Roosh's "let me guess" or "you're cute, let's dance." Anything more complicated is just making things harder on yourself since you would have hooked them anyway. If you must use routines, save it for later, preferably you've danced and escalated a bit.
Looks-wise, the locals are nothing special. 5-7 is about the average with an occasional 8. Most do not actually live in Cuzco but rather come from other cities in Peru for vacation. The backpacker chicks here are similar to what you'd see elsewhere in South America, with a variety of nationalities and a wide attractiveness range. They're mostly poor hippie travelers or uncaring, flip flop-clad gringas so don't expect too much in the way of class or femininity from this crowd.
In summary, if you dance well and speak good Spanish you can get laid with a little effort. If you're a good-looking white gringo you can get action just by showing up and doing approaches, and if you have game you can kill it here.
Lodging
I started out staying in Ecopackers, which was the highest-rated hostel on Hostelworld.com at the time. Good location just a couple blocks from Plaza de Armas, good facilities, chill vibe, and friendly staff, but make sure you get your reservation in writing (get everything in this goddamn country in writing, in fact) because they fucked up and "lost" our reservation after we came back from our trek and we had to move to a different hostel.
After Ecopackers, we stayed in Che Lagarto, another hostel very close to Plaza de Armas. The facilities are also very nice and the staff is okay, but the vibe here was not nearly as social as at Ecopackers, so if you run hostel game you'd probably be better off at Ecopackers. They also had an issue with our reservations that was eventually resolved, but only after a lot of arguing with a lady at the front desk. Seriously, get everything in writing here and don't trust anyone if they only promise you something verbally. They let me bring a girl back and get a private room, but I had to bribe the guy at the front desk about 60 soles because the girl didn't have her passport on her, which he claimed was required.
That's about all I can think of at the moment. Unfortunately my time going out here was limited and so are the impressions I was able to collect. I'll answer any questions to the best of my ability, and update this with more info if I think of anything.
Context
I was in Cuzco recently and had 3 nights out over a span of 10 days (due to doing a trek for the rest). My only notch was a backpacker chick on my last night there, but I had a decent amount of interaction with the locals as well. I am a white American in my early-mid 20's, have average looks and height, and speak fluent Spanish. My experience is most likely to be similar to yours if you fall into one or more of these categories.
Bars and Clubs
Cuzco is apparently a shitshow of a city, and every day I went out clubs were packed, including Sunday (disclaimer: this was during the Fiesta del Sol, which is apparently a rather large holiday). I only went out in the immediate Plaza de Armas area and from what I gathered this is where most of the gringos and Peruvian girls who like gringos go, although I'm sure you could find places further off the beaten path if you looked around (I did not unfortunately, so I can't speak on that directly). Most of the crowd at these places tends to be of the early 20s/hippie backpacker variety, so if that's your niche you will be right at home and if it isn't you will struggle unless you adapt or find alternative venues.
Mama Africa's: I went here twice, on a Saturday and a Monday. It was packed by midnight both times, and as was mentioned in the other thread the gender ratio gets progressively worse so get here early. Drinks are more expensive than other places and there's a large proportion of gringos but a fair number of locals as well. Oddly, I saw quite a few more Peruvian girls here than Peruvian guys, possibly because it's a known gringo haunt and lots of bricheras show up to hunt for some white meat. There's a chiller bar area downstairs and the upstairs is a loud dance floor. Located on the west side of Plaza de Armas.
Inka Team: Went on Sunday night and it was packed. Fewer gringos than Mama Africa's and a better gender ratio that seemed to stay fairly constant throughout the night. I had kind of a wasted night here--hooked the first girl I approached here and danced and made out with her until 4am, but didn't get the bang because of a brutal cockblock from her friend. The girls looked approachable though, and I got eyefucked here more than at any other place, so based on this very limited impression I'd say it's likely to be a good spot. Dance floor on the bottom with bar on the second floor; located on the northwest corner of the Plaza.
Groove: Went here early one night and there wasn't much going on, but came back much later (after 2am) and there were a lot more people. I didn't stay long but there seemed to be a decent number of girls here (more than Mama Africa's, fewer than Inka Team) and few gringos. Seems to be more of a late-night spot. Loud, single-floor dance club; located just west of the Plaza.
Game and Girls
The best game in this town seems to be high-energy, life-of-the-party club game. Roll in like you own the fucking place (preferably with a few girls in tow from your hostel), dance and vibe with everybody, be generous with your bankroll (not hard to do when you're dealing in soles), and in general be having the most fun of anybody in the club, and you'll probably be able to pull something out of there. This makes sense to me because the entire scene is built around people coming from foreign countries and other cities in Peru to party and get shitfaced, so naturally if you are doing that better than anyone else then people will be drawn to that. The people I saw making out at the end of the night were the ones who were being active and putting out a fun, energetic vibe earlier on. The number one rule here is don't be a wallflower.
If you speak conversational Spanish or better you will have a significant leg up over most of the gringos, as I encountered very few who really had solid language skills. A lot of the foreign crowd here doesn't seem to very hardcore into the culture--many just stop by because they want to visit Machu Picchu. Don't rely on Spanish talking game to get you laid, though--being fun and dominant is more important than anything else, and it's easy to fall into the trap of talking too much and not doing enough to pump up the girls' buying temperature through dancing etc. My first night here, I made the mistake of thinking I could use my Spanish to stand out without being particularly aggressive, and the result was a series of 10-15 minute conversations that went nowhere. My sense is that girls here are more interested in having fun than meeting a cool, interesting guy. If you don't have good Spanish, just go caveman--if you're a white gringo it will still give you a good shot.
The Peruvian girls here are very friendly and approachable. They'll smile when smiled at, and will readily engage you in a conversation (which can be a double-edged sword if they're just being polite and you don't realize it). I didn't get blown out on a single approach in 3 nights out here. For openers, I recommend keeping it simple--think Roosh's "let me guess" or "you're cute, let's dance." Anything more complicated is just making things harder on yourself since you would have hooked them anyway. If you must use routines, save it for later, preferably you've danced and escalated a bit.
Looks-wise, the locals are nothing special. 5-7 is about the average with an occasional 8. Most do not actually live in Cuzco but rather come from other cities in Peru for vacation. The backpacker chicks here are similar to what you'd see elsewhere in South America, with a variety of nationalities and a wide attractiveness range. They're mostly poor hippie travelers or uncaring, flip flop-clad gringas so don't expect too much in the way of class or femininity from this crowd.
In summary, if you dance well and speak good Spanish you can get laid with a little effort. If you're a good-looking white gringo you can get action just by showing up and doing approaches, and if you have game you can kill it here.
Lodging
I started out staying in Ecopackers, which was the highest-rated hostel on Hostelworld.com at the time. Good location just a couple blocks from Plaza de Armas, good facilities, chill vibe, and friendly staff, but make sure you get your reservation in writing (get everything in this goddamn country in writing, in fact) because they fucked up and "lost" our reservation after we came back from our trek and we had to move to a different hostel.
After Ecopackers, we stayed in Che Lagarto, another hostel very close to Plaza de Armas. The facilities are also very nice and the staff is okay, but the vibe here was not nearly as social as at Ecopackers, so if you run hostel game you'd probably be better off at Ecopackers. They also had an issue with our reservations that was eventually resolved, but only after a lot of arguing with a lady at the front desk. Seriously, get everything in writing here and don't trust anyone if they only promise you something verbally. They let me bring a girl back and get a private room, but I had to bribe the guy at the front desk about 60 soles because the girl didn't have her passport on her, which he claimed was required.
That's about all I can think of at the moment. Unfortunately my time going out here was limited and so are the impressions I was able to collect. I'll answer any questions to the best of my ability, and update this with more info if I think of anything.