Fleewinter

The Niños hotels are made up of two boutique properties, the original Meloc Hotel and the more recent Fierro Hotel which are part of the Niños Unidos Peruanos Foundation. Staying here means you will be supporting 600 underprivileged children of Cusco and in other villages with one to two healthy meals a day, medical and dental care, homework support, and a pleasant caring environment. For this reason, as well as the stunning design and welcoming atmosphere, make the properties some of our favourite in Cusco.

Jolanda van der Berg is the woman behind the hotels and foundation who came to Cusco in 1996 with the goal to help the many underprivileged children in the city. After just a few months she was the adoptive mother of twelve children thanks to support from family and friends. Following this she started to research a more sustainable way to provide income to her new family and other poor children, this is where the concept of Niños came from. It started with Meloc Hotel which by 2000 was successful enough to be able to open a restaurant for the underprivileged children. In 2007 a second restaurant and hotel (Fierro) were opened.

The rooms in both properties are quite small and simple in design, but clean and comfortable and have very beautiful touches. There are 23 rooms in Meloc Hotel and 21 rooms in the Fierro Hotel which are named after the children that Jolanda (the owner) adopted over the years. The rooms are located on two floors around a lovely courtyard, typical of the colonial design and can be set up as doubles, triples and even. Due to the hotel being in this traditional style a lot of the rooms only have windows that open into the centre of the building. The bathrooms are functional and feel modern. Some rooms have a shared bathroom (we will not include these) but you may see someone walking to the shower. Please note the heating is only from small fan heaters you can plug in as you wish. There is also a fantastic café and shop to enjoy throughout your stay. Enjoying the warm sunshine in the courtyard with a piece of cake will be a fantastic oasis of calm from exploring the bustling streets of Cusco.

We really love these hotels, but it is important to understand they have been created as an affordable option for people to stay when in Cusco in order to support the foundation. They are far from luxury and they have little frills, but the space is stunning and overall the experience is a real delight!

Our favourite of the two is the Meloc Hotel so we will recommend this when possible.