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It’s official! Palacio Nazarenas is launched

September 27, 12 //
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By Stephan Post, Launch General Manager, Palacio Nazarenas

Last week saw the culmination of years of hard work: a spectacular party launched Palacio Nazarenas onto the Cuzco scene. The evening was filled with fireworks, fabulous food and fashions, and lots of fun. Our team welcomed over 150 guests to the hotel, including politicians, diplomats, film stars and international media.

The evening kicked off with the official cutting of the ribbon beside Cuzco’s first outdoor swimming pool, and finished with the Afro-Peruvian sounds of one of South America’s top musicians, Micky Gonzales.

The celebrations marked the conclusion of four years dedicated to restoring this beautiful building while taking it forward as a contemporary hotel. Now we turn our attention to our guests, and to ensuring that they discover all that Cuzco has to offer in an exceptional way.

So now that the hotel is fully fledged it’s time to say “goodbye” to this blog. This is the final post, as we focus all our energies on ensuring that our guests have a fantastic stay.

We’ll be leaving the blog in place for a while so that anyone who wants to discover our “back story’ can find out more. Please, come and visit us and let us turn these words and pictures into an experience to remember.

Candles illuminate the area surrounding Cuzco's first outdoor pool

Candles illuminate the area surrounding Cuzco's first outdoor pool

Vanessa Saba

Vanessa Saba

Anna Laevski, Dominika Paleta and Lorena Pérez Moya

Anna Laevski, Dominika Paleta and Lorena Pérez Moya

Eduardo Ferrero and his wife Verónica, María Rosa Arrarte

Eduardo Ferrero and his wife Verónica, María Rosa Arrarte

Mauricio Bustamante and his wife Claudia Abuid. Pedro Diez Canseco and his wife Jessika Gómez

Mauricio Bustamante and his wife Claudia Abuid. Pedro Diez Canseco and his wife Jessika Gómez

Gina Gabbard and her husband Chris, Kimberly Wilson Wetty

Gina Gabbard and her husband Chris, Kimberly Wilson Wetty

Mr. Manuel Zúñiga

Mr. Manuel Zúñiga

Fátima Arrieta and her husband Alfredo Arosemena

Fátima Arrieta and her husband Alfredo Arosemena

Vania Masías and her husband Erick Hanschke

Vania Masías and her husband Erick Hanschke

Planning the grand opening

September 5, 12 //
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By Stephan Post, Launch General Manager, Palacio Nazarenas

This is the moment we’ve been building up to: our grand opening party takes place this weekend.

Orient-Express has spent years restoring Palacio Nazarenas and turning it into Cuzco’s finest boutique hotel. Last June we opened our doors to our first guests. Now that we’ve settled into our rhythm we’re excited to be holding our official launch event.

Planning the grand opening...

Planning the grand opening...

We’re busy putting the final touches to the party. On our guest list are leading travel agents and press from around the world. We’ve lined up some amazing local food, drinks and entertainment. We want our guests to experience exactly what makes Palacio Nazarenas so special—we’ll be celebrating its amazing story from pre-Inca times up until today.

So stay in touch, and see you next week when we’ll share the party highlights.

Insiders’ Peru: An Exclusive Tour

April 12, 12 //
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by Stephan Post, General Manager Hotel Monasterio and Palacio Nazarenas

When you come to Palacio Nazarenas it’s likely to be as part of a round-Peru tour. Lima, the Sacred Valley and Machu Picchu will also be high on your ‘to do’ list. So, since you’ll be staying in an exceptional hotel, we’ve put together a journey to match—one that shows you Peru in a way that no-one else can.

Macchu Picchu
Our new Insiders’ Peru journey takes you to all the key places, but adds a special twist. There’ll be the chance to really get to know Cuzco, with extra time allowed and the chance to explore with an architecture expert who’ll take you inside buildings that few other visitors see. When you reach Machu Picchu an archaeologist will meet you and when you stop by the weaver’s village of Chinchero an expert will be at the ready to take you behind the scenes to explain the history of the country’s amazing textile traditions.

Visit orient-express.com/insidersperu to find out more.

Designing the Day Uniforms

December 9, 11 //
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By Jose Miguel Valdivia, Fashion Designer

I’m delighted to have been asked to design the day uniforms for Palacio Nazarenas. I’ve just been walking around the hotel and have come away with a very strong impression of the ancient stonework. If you look carefully at all the old Inca walls you’ll see wonderful shades of grey, pink and beige. These colours are what I plan to bring out in the uniforms.

A design from one of Jose Miguel Valdivia's recent collections.

I don’t want the staff’s clothes to fight with the building. Nor do I want them to reference local costumes. I’m looking to design uniforms that are clean, elegant and even futuristic, in subtle shades but with rich textures. Onto this soft background I’ll add a trim to catch the eye. I’m currently working with weavers and other Cuzco artisans to decide exactly what form this will take.

A new magazine features Palacio Nazarenas

November 14, 11 //
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by Stephan Post, General Manager Hotel Monasterio and Palacio Nazarenas

We’ve just launched an exciting new magazine—Highlights: An Invitation to Peru—with a major feature on Palacio Nazarenas.  It also contains articles on other unique experiences available through Orient-Express, including food and dining, wildlife and festivals. Plus you can discover how to plan your trip with Orient-Express, and add extensions in Brazil, the Galapagos Islands and elsewhere in Peru.

Click here to read Highlights online.  Or, if you’d prefer to sit back with a print copy, just let us know and we’ll put one in the post (while stocks last).

Highlights of Peru

Original Ceramics

November 7, 11 //
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by Stephan Post, General Manager Hotel Monasterio and Palacio Nazarenas

Palacio Nazarenas has commissioned artists to create three distinct collections of original ceramics for Senzo Restaurant and the hotel suites. Showcasing Peruvian creativity and ingenuity, the ceramics will feature pre-Inca, Inca and colonial styles.

The colonial series will be created by Tater Camilo Vera. The artist, who has a workshop in Cuzco, is committed to reviving Peru’s dying tradition of glazed ceramics. Painstakingly created by hand with the help of eight families from a local village, his vases and tableware will be adorned with traditional iconography featuring the flora and fauna of Peru.

I’ll be introducing Tater shortly, when he can tell you more about his work.

Palacio Nazarenas Fruit Cart

Our Tableware

October 13, 11 //
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by Stephan Post, General Manager Hotel Monasterio and Palacio Nazarenas

This week we’re looking at the tableware that we plan to use in our signature restaurant. We’re focusing on designs that match the spirit of the hotel: refined, artistic, contemporary and with an element of surprise.

Among the front-runner choices is cutlery by Marcel Wanders, a designer from The Netherlands, for leading French company Christofle. The classic shapes of each knife, fork and spoon are enlivened by intricate patterning, which reminded us of the delightful designs that one sees on traditional textiles throughout Peru.

What do you think of our choice?

Cutlery

 

A room with tales to tell…

September 7, 11 //
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By Enrique Palacio, Principal Architect

Palacio Nazarenas is full of fascinating corners, but one of the most intriguing is the future Nazarenas Suite. This is the corner room with a balcony that overlooks Nazarenas Square, with the city of Cuzco and the Andes beyond.

A column has supported the balcony roof since the building’s earliest years, when it was a private home. The story goes that in 1546 the owner of the house, Doña Maria Calderon, was hanged from it by her godson, a bloodthirsty conquistador, for conspiracy against Spain.

In the mid 18th century the building became a convent. The room was then turned into the abbess’s retreat for private prayer. The nuns were so poor that it is thought that it was a bishop who arranged for its coffered ceiling to be decorated in beautiful patterns of gold-embellished roses, now beautifully restored.

Guests who come to stay will be able to appreciate all these features, while sitting out on the balcony and watching life go by in the square below.

The spa shapes up…

September 1, 11 //
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By Michael Simonato, Spa Creator for Palacio Nazarenas

As building work progresses on our spa, the concept behind its atmosphere and treatments is taking shape. We’re looking to create a truly spiritual sanctuary within the hotel, an oasis where guests can escape and enjoy an experience tailored to their exact needs. I feel confident that we will set a new benchmark for spas in South America.

What we will offer goes way beyond regular spa treatments such as massages, scrubs, wraps and beauty treatments. When guests arrive they will be asked what they would like to achieve: more energy, total relaxation or a boost to their health. We’ll then arrange a personalised programme that could include massage, aromatherapy and other rituals. They can choose their own music, food and drink, and post-treatment activities such as stretching or sports.

Palacio Nazarenas Spa

The emphasis will be on aromatherapy using local products and experiences: steam baths scented with fresh muna (a mountain herb), massage creams and oils from Andean plants, drinks made from Sacred Valley fruits. Peru’s local culture is interwoven with the use of flowers and herbs, and this will be reflected throughout the spa. Many of our natural products will be hand-picked by communities from the Cuzco region.

We’re also planning to have rooms scented with natural fragrances where guests can relax on a mattress, wrapped in an alpaca blanket, and dream…

Spotlight on small details

August 10, 11 //
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By Enrique Palacio, Principal Architect

All the major structural work on Palacio Nazarenas is now more or less complete. A ventilation system is set up to pipe oxygen into guest suites to combat altitude sickness and we’ve installed under-floor heating beneath the Peruvian travertine marble floors. Archaeological finds such as ancient paths, water channels and colonial fountains are already restored. It’s been quite a feat to do this without disturbing the original, historic building.

Handcrafted furniture, made in Peru for Palacio Nazarenas

So now we’re focusing on the details. We are restoring some of the original doors and windows and they will be placed in public areas such as treatment rooms in the spa.

We’ve spent months working out exactly how guests will use furniture such as mini bars, bedside tables and seating. We’ve tested innumerable chairs to find designs representative of Peru yet ideally suited to guests’ needs.

Local artisans are now hard at work. New pieces of furniture are being handcrafted in Peru especially for the hotel. More than 90 percent of our workforce is local and when the hotel’s doors open we want them all to be proud of what they’ve achieved.

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