While in Peru recently I was offered the opportunity of spending a weekend away from Lima down south in the Hacienda Cantayo. I’d heard great stories about this enchanting hotel located on the outskirts of Nazca, and so naturally I jumped on the invitation. Owing to the famous and mysterious Geogylphic Lines located on the plains outside the town, Nazca has grown to be rather popular with tourists and hotels have been sprouting up around the area ever since I started working in Peru. Of all the hotels in the area however, the Hacienda Cantayo is easily the finest. Besides being exceptionally comfortable, it has a number of subtle charms that give it a distinctive and noteworthy character.
Surrounded by the ubiquity of the Nazca plains, the Hacienda’s lackluster surrounding only adds to its charm. Now, I wouldn’t go so far as to claim the hotel is perfect because it’s not. Like most places it does have its flaws. Where the Cantayo however excels is in its seemingly inane ability to put all its guests at complete ease. I don’t know whether this is due in some part to its old world charisma, lavish comforts, or because of its oasis-like setting; but upon walking through the Hacienda’s heavy hardwood gates a sense of tranquility melts you over. Something about the white washed walls and the fresh scent of bougainvillea put one at complete ease; it’s an oddly comforting experience and feels strangely like déjà vu or maybe a dream.

Whatever the reasons it became immediately apparent to me that the hotel was a little more special than I’d been told. Arriving at dusk I ambled through the outer corridors as I was shown to my room. I don’t know if this is just me – but a hotel room without a television is something I’ve come to greatly admire. Traveling half way around the world to sit and watch your favorite television shows just seems crass and unimaginative to me. There is no room for that kind of behavior at the Cantayo; the rooms, while very comfortable, are sparsely decorated and functional. The idea I imagine is that – unless bathing, relaxing, or romanticizing – the Hacienda’s rooms essentially cater for sleeping purposes. All other activities can be done elsewhere.

Following a look around my room I ventured out briefly onto the grounds. I couldn’t see very much of the gardens as the sun had already set by this time. It seemed peaceful enough though and as I walked out further passing over a few fences I could quite literally feel my stress levels decreasing – that was until I tripped over an ostrich. It was quite possibly the last thing I’d been expecting to find in Peru, let alone trip over. The Hacienda Cantayo actually has a whole flock of Ostriches (kept behind a fence ofcourse), and after the poor bird and I had finished screaming at each other in dumb founded shock, I noticed that Giant African birds were not the only animals the Hacienda includes within its sanctuary. Llamas, alpacas, horses, monkeys and an array or other animals live in a sectored off corner of the grounds. By day they’re a fantastic diversion for the kids, and at night a bit of a hazard for those silly enough to walk into their living area.

I returned to the Hacienda and bee-lined for the bar needing a little something to dull both the shock of just having met the world’s largest bird, and the pain from having tripped over it. The barmen cooked up a magnificent pisco sour and by the time my food had arrived I’d settled down substantially and was falling back into the tranquil hacienda groove. The food was much better than I’d expected – a prime cut of Argentinean beef cooked to perfection in the Peruvian desert. The restaurant itself has a great hacienda-like vibe to it, and with saddles on the wall and a welcoming fireplace with some comfortable looking sofas I felt very much at home.

Being close to the Nazca Lines, tours run straight from the hotel directly to the airport – where passengers board a light aircraft for their flight over the lines. I’ve flown over the lines enough times in the past to know them fairly well. They still however hold a lot of attraction and I never get bored seeing them again. Following the flight I returned to lodge and spent the rest of the day lounging by the hotel’s phenomenal swimming pool. I believe this swimming pool has actually featured on the cover of guidebooks. However, it’s not the sprawling pool waters as much as the giant ficus tree that towers above it that serves as the main attraction. I spent the better part of an afternoon lounging about beneath this amazing tree while enjoying both the clear blue water and the hotel’s excellent pool side service.

The Hacienda Cantayo really is the perfect getaway for anyone traveling to Nazca. A world within a world, the Cantayo serves as a sanctuary and provides the type of comfort and service you’d expect from a hotel in a 19th century novel. I was sad to leave on a Sunday after breakfast and as I made my way back to Lima it began to dawn on me how the Cantayo could just be one of the best hotel finds in the country. I think I may be heading back there soon and strongly encourage anyone traveling to Nazca to consider staying in this fine establishment.

The Hacienda Cantayo is located a couple of miles out of Nasca in a quiet, irrigated valley next to the ‘ancient’ (in fact part-reconstructed) aqueducts that are much-visited on the Nasca package tour circuit. The hotel seemed genuinely luxurious, in stark contrast to the painfully poor, outlying suburb of Nasca that is its immediate neighbour (just the other side of the enclosing high walls). One of the main attractions of the hotel is its extensive and attractively planted gardens, which also feature a large swimming pool. From these gardens there are superb views of the surrounding mountains, including Cerro Blanco, the world’s highest sand dune (apparently). The hacienda also boasts a helipad from which several tours of the Nasca Lines depart on most days.

My room was fine, although a little lacking in natural light, making it a bit too ‘monastic’ for my taste. None of the rooms had televisions, which to me seemed like taking the hotel’s expensive and somewhat affected rustic-chique a little too far (but I acknowledge that it cuts down on noise levels between the rooms, particularly along the echoing colonnades). The dining room, reception and bar/lounge area were all stunning but overall the hotel seemed a bit soulless. The reason for this is that it caters almost exclusively for large package tour groups. So when a group arrives the hotel becomes very busy, perhaps even too noisy. When a group leaves the hotel virtually shuts down (on my second night I had to request that they open the dining area so I could actually eat some dinner). Unfortunately this is very much a function of the Peruvian tourist industry which seems wedded to the idea of highly controlled package tour groups hurtling between sightseeing attractions to take postcard-replica photos and little else.

The hotel has a small menagerie scattered about its attractive gardens. Most of the animals were being treated okay, but I suspect most guests who possessed an ounce of sensitivity and who had actually bothered to notice would probably have been appalled (as I was) by the lone monkey chained day and night to a bare tree next to the main entrance. Ditto the numerous rabbits crammed into inadequately sized cages. I’m hardly an animal rights activist, having munched my way happily through cute guinea pigs and alpaca kebabs during my tour of Peru, but even I had an overwhelming urge to liberate the poor, manifestly depressed monkey confined to that one small, leafless tree. I guess my recent visit to the Manu biosphere reserve had put me in this frame of mind.

Another detractor for me was the fact that none of the reception staff seemed to speak any vaguely comprehensible English which seemed out of sympathy with the desire to attract international guests. A moment’s thought reveals why: they don’t have to. This is because the visiting package tour guides do it for them and the guests mostly interact with the guides only. Also when I enquired about some local tours the reception staff were utterly unhelpful. Basically they don’t need to be helpful because the hotel exists to serve large, organised groups in which everything a guest might do has been pre-booked several months prior. So, as an independent traveller, I found it to be a disappointing experience given that it is trying to position itself at the top end of the market.

This was a fantastic hotel to stay in - I was just sad that I was only staying overnight.

The rooms were light and airy. The setting was fabulous. The food was good. The staff were helpful. The hotel foyer was like an art gallery.

If going to Nazca, I would stay at this hotel - I was picked up to go on my flight over the Lines and all of the others on the bus were very impressed by the hotel.

Only downsides: Breakfast was so tempting that I threw up on the plane after all of those tight twists and turns - Just Say No!

Whithout a doubt this is the best hotel in all Nasca. (and maybe one of the best of Peru) Ask anybody in the town and they will tell you.
It have a lot of exotics animals FREE outside of the mansion. You can get there by bus, taxi or HELICOPTER (it have parking for helicopters).
Maybe you can relax at the big pool, do a ride in the horses, or read some historic books in the luxurious living near the bar with candles.
A wonderful oasis. You can download the brochure for free at [----------------]