ROLLING IN PERU OLD SCHOOL- TOUR THE COUNTRY STAYING IN THE HISTORIC TOURIST HOTELS

November 9, 2017 SouthAmerica

Just after World War II, the president of Peru in a bid to increase tourism to Peru initiated a program of building hotel infrastructure across the country in many hallmark towns that up to that point had little in the way of services to attend the foreign traveler. These were all located in prime locations, in most cases right at the town’s plaza de armas. They each became the largest hotel in the area for long time, and were recognized as the best places to stay. The first international air travel was beginning at this time, and most visitors to Peru were upper-class travelers looking for those national geographic style adventures. In a remarkable number of Peruvian cities today, these tourist hotels remain some of the better venues around. Including them in your travel itinerary will yield a sense of the grand exploration era.

southamericatotheworld.com — Hoteles de Turistas de Abancay

Many feature similar style elements such as high ceilings, massive stairways, grand reception room, a bar typically located to the left side of the entrance and jutting outwards somewhat from the main building, Spanish tiled roof, woodwork, and long hallways. Some of these hotels feature massive fireplaces, restaurants that still in many cases have some of the better dining, and staff catering in the old ways of upscale-scale service. Today the doormen are gone, but the waiters still have formal wear, and these hotels are far too costly for most of the local inhabitants to ever stay in. Some of the hotels have fallen in disrepair, others have been renovated and approach four star quality.

In 1938 President Oscar Benavides started the creation of hotels in several cities in the country, a plan that the following presidents continued. The original plan was a contest between invited Peruvian architects to design hotels for each place with different requirements according to the specific area. In 1938 the first competition was announced for the Hotel del Cusco and the first place winners were Peruvian architects: Jose Alvarez Calderon and Emilio Harth-Terre. Second place was Carlos Silva Santisteban and third place were: Carlos Morales Macchiavello and Humberto Guerra. Later on all of them will design some other hotels.

It all started as Compañia Hotelera del Peru S. A. (CHP) on July 17^th of 1942 during the first presidency term of Manuel Prado (1939-1945). Initially this was a private company formed between the members International Petroleum Company Ltd., Panamerican Grace Airways Inc., Grand Hotel Bolivar S.A., Compañia de Aviacion Faucett S. A., Banco Popular del Peru, and some private members. The Compañia Hotelera started their business with four hotels located in Cusco, Arequipa, Puno, and Huaraz.

In 1946 CHP inaugurated the Hotel in Abancay starting with the name of Hotel de Turistas de Abancay. In this same year they created the National Corporation of Tourism, which remained active until 1950. After this on July 14^th of the same year the hotels took a new management as La Compañia Hotelera del Peru S. A. On March 6^th of 1964 the hotels once again fall into new management La Corporacion de Turismo or COTURPERU, being one of their first projects La Casa de Oquendo in Lima. COTURPERU gained total control of the hotels on March 31^st of 1969; before that on March 21^st they decided to change the name to what will be known as ENTURPERU (Empresa Estatal de derecho privado del sector turismo, sociedad anonima) and this was the biggest chain of hotels in Peru. EnturPeru was created to promote tourism in Peru. At some point they had control of 35 hotels in Peru, all with the name of Hotel de Turistas.

The following towns had Hotel Turistas (marked in red are the ones we have stayed at; the names of the architects behind these magnificent buildings are also listed for the ones we could find information on):

Abancay– seen better days but it is still the best place to stay at in Abancay. Arch. Humberto Guerra
Arequipa– on a hilltop park, best renovated hotel of the series. Arch. Jose Alvarez Calderon and Emilio Harth-terré.
Ayacucho– with grand bar and dining hall. Arch. Carlos Silva Santisteban
Cajamarca
Camana– Ing. Alberto Ureta
Cusco- Arch. Jose Alvarez Calderon and Emilio Harth-terré.
Chala- Ing. Alberto Ureta
Chiclayo- Arch. Juan Benites Dubeau
Chimbote– right at the oceanfront
Huancavelica– the hotel lost in time
Huanuco– Arch. Augusto Guzman
Huancayo– city center, a distinct landmark. Arch. Humberto Guerra and Roberto Haaker Fort.
Huaraz– massive building on the north side of the city. Arch. Augusto Guzman and Carlos Silva Santisteban.
Ica– oasis amongst the dunes Arch. Remigio Collantes and Luis Collantes
Iquitos- presently a military facility. Arch. Carlos Morales Macchiavello
Ilo- rather modern still building overlooking the coast.
Isla Esteves- Arch. Miguel Rodrigo Mazure, Miguel Cruchaga Belaunde and Emilio Soyer.
Juliaca
Machu Picchu Ruins- setting record prices at US$1,000 per night
Monterrey– hot spring resort
Moquegua- offers a great viewpoint to the city
Moyobamba– jungle city and hotel laid out with bungalows
Nazca– large central patio with pool. Arch. Alfredo Dammert
Piura- Augusto Guzman
Puerto Maldonado
Pucallpa
Puno- Arch. Humberto Guerra
San Antonio Abad
Santa Rosa de Quives
Tarma– building with arches and large front garden. Arch. Roberto Haaker Fort and E. Vallejos
Tacna– located off the main plaza. Juan Benites and Alejandro Manfredi
Tarapoto
Trujillo– spectacular building facing a great plaza Arch. Carlos Morales Macchiavello and Humberto Guerra.
Tumbes- Arch. Fernando Belaunde
Tingo Maria- Arch. Alfredo Dammert
Zorritos

Not all the hotels are located in the main plaza; other are located in the outskirts of the city or at least what it used to be decades ago. It is good to remember that all these hotels were built during the decades of the 1930, 1940, 1950 and that factor plays a big role in the hotel location and design.

We had the opportunity to visit some of the hotels, but most importantly I used to work in these two hotels, Hotel Turismo Huancayo and Hotel Presidente Huancavelica.

Hotel de Turistas Huancayo, now is called the Hotel Turismo, was and still is a very marvelous hotel. The grand staircase made for a wonderful entrance for some promotion parties and weddings. The fireplaces were lit during high season only. It was something to celebrate, having a hotel full of guests, the fireplace burning, and the commotion is still something I fondly remember. The arches within the hotel are another characteristic of the time when these hotels were built. I used to have my favorite spot in the hotel from which I would enjoy the city views. I still remember this hotel for all the many reasons mentioned above, but later on, another reason why this hotel turned out to be even more special is because this is the place where I first met Jim back in 1998. That is where our love story began, and jokingly Jim said “they lived blogging happily ever after.” Now in 2017 we celebrated our 18^th wedding anniversary.

The Hotel de Turistas Cusco, known as Hotel Cusco now, was a symbol of power in the Imperial city of Cusco. This hotel was built in 1940 and inaugurated in 1944 on what it used to be Casa Cuadro, which was the first mint house. This hotel is now in disrepair with many judicial problems that have been part of the main issue for why this hotel is not in service. On the contrary, some areas of the hotel are being rented to small shops who in some instance decided to renovate it without any architectural knowledge or legal permit. The city of Cusco and Lima are still trying to come up with a plan to bring back this hotel, but as usual in third world countries none of them can agree to anything meanwhile this hotel has been abandoned.

Hotel Presidente, Huancavelica– built at the plaza de armas adjacent to a 450 year old church. Huancavelica is a high and cold city, a poor place with a rich history from the mercury mines. The hotel is used over these last decades by many exploration geologists working through the department of Huancavelica, and we have spent time there as a logistical base for doing geology. The restaurant providing breakfast is key in this town where there are no other options for morning dining. The showers in the hotel used to be heated by a wood-burning boiler, thus requiring informing the staff in advance to stoke up the flames. The hardwood flooring lining the hallways are creaky, and the staff runs the waxing machine over them on daily basis.

Hotel Turistas, Moyobamba- located somewhat out of the city to the north, on the south bank terrace of the Mayo River, the hotel has a large reception and common room with a pool table. The rooms are scattered about in detached bungalows with suitably jungle vegetated pathways splitting off from the center sundecks and swimming pool.

Hotel Turistas, Nazca- The bar staff holds a celebration every May 15^th, remembering the birthday of Maria Raiche, who spent decades studying the Nazca lines and for many years was based out of this hotel de turistas. On our visit during this small party the barman shared with us how Maria Raiche would skinny dip in the Rio Nazca.

Hotel de Turistas Tacna, now Gran Hotel Tacna, is located two blocks near the Plaza the Armas. The hotel was inaugurated on March 31^st 1951. The second floor balconies provide views of the sand dunes overlooking the city towards the south.

Hotel Turistas, Tarma- The city of Tarma lies on the central highway that connects Lima with the Amazon basin. The trip over the Andes in the 1950’s would have been a multiple day affair and required a layover. It still takes two days to drive from Lima to Pucallpa. At an elevation of 3,060 m Tarma provides a lower base for those working in the Cerro de Pasco mines, a respite from the high elevations and cold. Tarma is known for its flowers, and the nearby town San Pedro de Cajas used to be famous for its woven textiles.

ENTURPERU started its privatization on July 2^nd of 1993. This marks the new era of what could have been a great legacy of architecture, real estate, Peru´s cultural patrimony, and history. The history of Peru as any other country had many ups and downs and still has a lot of work that could be done in many areas in the country. Growing up in Peru I have seen that every time a new president takes command of the government he tries very hard to destroy whatever his predecessor did, in a way to prove that they can do better and undermine the achievements accomplished before each term. But only investigating about these hotels in Peru I found out that every president continued what started in 1938, and I admire the work of many Peruvian architects for each hotel within the country. The future of these hotels were uncertain and today some still retain the past glory days, others were completed abandoned, and some were “upgraded” without keeping much of the original architectural work. We have to accept the way they are now but it is good to know the history behind what once was the Grand Hoteles de Turistas del Peru.

List of hotels that have a website: