November 8, 2016
Last night, after missing my flight and likely paying too much for a taxi fromthe airport, I arrived at Hotel Niños. For those of you who don’t speak Spanish, niños means children 😉 And for you jokesters out there, it’s not a hotel only for children. I may act like a child on the regular, but I don’t have to stay at a kids-only hotel.
As most of my lodging for my trip, I found this place recommended on Tripadvisor. But after digging a bit deeper, I also learned the hotel supports a nonprofit for homeless and disadvantaged kids of Cusco, Peru. If you can put aside the fact that it’s owned by a Dutch woman, it’s really a great hotel and a great cause. Her idea was extremely successful, so she’s since opened various restaurants and two more hotels supporting the Niños Unidos Peruanos Foundacion.
Money going into the foundation, some from the hotels and restaurants and other from donations, gives kids places to live, food, education, medical and dental care, sports programs and more. It’s really very neat. Here’s the story behind the hotel and foundation.
Anyway, that aside, the hotel is great (if you don’t mind a shared bathroom and thin walls). It’s cozy, safe and beautiful inside. Below is a picture of the courtyard in the center of all the rooms and the restaurant. My room is straight back on the second floor (called first floor here), and instead of a number it’s named Panay after one of the orphan children brought in by the founder. All the rooms are named after the children.
lindsayholloway 