Hello everybody! I hope that you are all very well. Today the opportunity that I have been waiting for has arrived. It is time to talk about one of the buildings that in recent years has been turned into one of the icons of the city of Lima. This building was booming in its time. It is located in the San Isidro district. You may be wondering why I am writing about this, so I will give you a few reasons why I think that it is important that I tell you a little about this building.
The location of the Westin Lima Hotel
I want to mention that the building is in the financial district, San Isidro. In the heart of this district, there is a street known as Begonias, where you will find shops such as Ripley and Saga Falabella as well as supermarkets and different shops, pharmacies. All in all, everything that you need in a financial area.
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I still remember fondly, when the opportunity to be here presented itself to me. This building took the title of being the tallest building in Peru, from what was the Civic center in the center of Lima.
Although, the Westin Hotel building was quickly dethroned by another building, that is just a few meters taller. This building is the GNB Bank. Both are iconic in the development and rise of property in Lima.
It is not just a tall building
This building in San Isidro, dear friends, is the first Westin hotel in South America! And you could say that although it is not the tallest building in Peru, but the second tallest at 117 meters high, it still holds the privilege of being the largest hotel building in all of Peru. This is pride for me since I have been working there for almost four years since its opening and commissioning.
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It is much more than just a hotel
The Westin hotel chain is really full of surprises. Inside it is very modern and it has 31 floors, where the public areas are only up to the fourth floor and from the fifth floor to the 30th floor there are only rooms. In total there are 9 different types of rooms in this hotel, from the standard ones to the presidential suite where many international artists have stayed, such as singers, politicians and all the characters of the Lima movement have also come to see the building or at least its restaurants.
Its event rooms
The Westin Lima hotel and Convention Center has 17 meeting rooms and the area for these types of events is more than 2529 square metres. They have held international events here and it is thanks to this hotel development that Lima has positioned itself as one of the business destinations in South America.
The biggest Spa in South America is here
Of course, a great hotel must also have a great Spa, so within its facilities there is the Heavenly Spa by Westin which is considered the biggest Spa within a city. Again we are proud to be in Lima! The city that I love most in the world.
The building was opened to become the best hotel in Lima
The Westin Lima Hotel & Convention Center, belongs to the Libertador Hotels Resorts & Spas chain, which has properties in other destinations in Peru such as Paracas, Arequipa, Puno, Cuzco, Valle Sagrado, Trujillo and Lima. (a four star hotel that I worked in). Within its alliances, the hotel belongs to the Peruvian Brescia family and therefore forms part of a network of companies from different branches in Peru through the Breca Group.
Market 770, a restaurant with Peruvian and international food
Market 770 is one of two restaurants in the Westin Lima hotel. This restaurant is on the first floor and it is open for breakfast, lunch and dinner. It has a more informal and relaxed style than the other restaurant in the hotel where you can come to enjoy a delicious breakfast buffet and there are generally 2 for 1 offers during the week. I recommend that you go!
Maras Restaurant
The next restaurant in the hotel is called Maras. It is called this because the final touches of the dishes are done with 'sal de Maras de Cuzco' (salt from the salt mines in Maras, Peru). This restaurant has its own independent entrance from the hotel but here is also a corridor that links it to the interior. The Maras restaurant is one of the best restaurants in Lima and is run by Chef Rafael Piqueras, here the chef's menu is purely Peruvian.
Chef Rafael Piqueras in innovative. It is better to make a reservation prior to going there to guarantee getting a table. It is characterised by the refinement of the decor, which is 100% Peruvian as well as the staff that work there. However, I should mention that they don't open on Sundays!
Its bars for everyone who wants to come to the hotel
The hotel has two bars on the first floor. the first one is called “lobby lounge” and it is a bar with an open layout. We say that it is basically in the middle of the lobby of the hotel. The bar has an interesting decor made of pisco bottles and as we already know, pisco is used to make the cocktail "pisco sour" which is the main drink in Peru and you can have it here.
The second bar is known as Bar Insitu which is also on the first floor. It is an English style bar in its simple and elegant style. Here you can try the delicious "chilcanos Westin", a cocktail that is their speciality.
Visit the Westin Lima hotel Facebook page where you can see the promotions that they have in the bars
Finally, there is another bar that eventually opens to the public at the weekend and it is on the third floor which also has a terrace.
Do you want to go higher?
Everyone who comes to the hotel has asked me this question and the answer is unfortunately, to go high up in the hotel you have to reserve a room or a weekend package for couples such as the “Heavenly Weekend” package. Here you can ask for the option to have a package with access to the executive floor which is a kind of lounge and it is on the 29th floor of the hotel, which I can tell you, the view from there is spectacular, especially if you come when there are not many clouds. I have been able to go up there several times when I worked there but not anymore.
My recommendation
If you come to the hotel to explore its facilities, I recommend that you have a breakfast when there are 2 for 1 deals, or come with friends to "Tea Time" in Market 770. You could also come to its bars where they are deals of the day like 2 for 1 cocktails like the chilcanos and you can make the most of the hotel's facilities. The first Westin in South America!
Well, dear readers, I hope that I have encouraged you to visit the Hotel, not only from the outside but to go inside too because although it is a 5 star hotel, there are good deals that you can enjoy and if you have any friends who still work there you can take them! Since they have a discount for them and whoever they bring to the hotel's restaurants or bars.
The Westin hotel has given me a lot of experiences and it is thanks to working here that I really started to love my city. (I have just shared a picture of a drawing I did a few years ago when I worked in the concierge area! I learned about Lima, its restaurants and its tourist destinations!)
Thanks so much for reading this post and above all, thank you Westin Lima! For giving me the chance to get to know amazing people there. See you in another post about Lima which will not stop until the last day of the contest which is almost over. Let's get more! See you :)
