Javier, please share with us a bit about your background and who you are.
Michele is a graphic designer among many other things, she paints, draws, and she loves restoring and recycling things.
I was a banking lawyer, but now I only work in the hotel and spend time with my family. I am retired from any kind of office job.
You have officially opened Nunu Boutique Hotel in May 2016 and you’ve moved from the capital Lima to the small town of Lamay only recently. How did you adapt to the new environment?
My family moved to Lamay in February 2017. The adaptation was easy for me and Michele but not for our children. We lived in a very nice place in Lima. My sons did not understand why we had to move to this forgotten town.
Over time things started to change. Now they seem to be in a good mood. Our kids like it a bit more here day by day. They start seeing the benefits and I am confident it’s only a matter of time.
You are running your hotel in one of the most beautiful parts of Perú, namely in the Sacred Valley near legendary Machu Picchu. How did you find this place?
We found our place in Lamay in 2013. A friend who lives here for more than 20 years told us about this land. We bought it with the intention to build our house.
What were some of the obstacles you’ve faced during the building phase?
It took us almost three years of our lives to build this hotel. One big issue was the reliability of people, or lack thereof. Some drink a lot of chicha all day long and for that reason the construction jobs took forever.
(Note: Chicha is a beer made from fermented corn that is enjoyed throughout Central and South America. Getting drunk on chicha seems to be a popular pastime.)
We fired many people and hired others, but it was still enormously difficult. Drinking chicha is part of daily life. That’s impossible to ignore. We’ve lost a lot of money along the way and learned to be patient.
Where does the name Nunu come from?
Nunu is a very special name for us because it is how my sons used to call my mother-in-law. Her name was Bruni, but my little kids couldn’t say that name. So they used Nunu instead of Bruni because it was easier for them to pronounce.
Each of your rooms are unique and have a specific theme. How did they come about?
The names of each room was an idea of Michele and her three friends that made this possible. They took four long days in December of 2015 to arrange all the rooms. During those days I went to Lima. When I returned everything was done amazingly. I couldn’t believe my eyes when I saw the rooms. It was incredible.
What led to leaving your old lives behind and opening your own hotel?
We left our lives behind because I didn’t want to continue as a practicing lawyer in one of the most corrupted countries in the world. Twenty years as a banking lawyer was enough for me. I’ve experienced that the law is never applied in a way you learn it at university.
Also Michele and I love Cusco. We came every year to spend a week at the apus where we got married in 1997.
(Note: Apus refers to the spirits of the mountains. A term that dates back to the Inca Empire.)
Also Lima is quite dangerous. So we decided to change our lives. We are very happy with that decision.
How does your typical day look like?
Every day is completely different. If we have guests we spend most of the time at the hotel, making sure they feel comfortable. If we don’t have guests we do many things, like rafting, trekking, climbing, biking, etc.
We try to enjoy this beautiful environment as much as possible. During the afternoon we enjoy our time as a family because the kids return from school.
Do you have any role models in the hotel and hospitality business?
I do not have role models in this business. We started it without any advice of anybody. We jumped into the deep end without prior knowledge of how to run a hotel. We did it because we had trust in our abilities and we knew that everything happens for a reason.
Of course, this means that it takes more time than usual to have true economic success. However, we don’t care about that. If we get bored we sell the hotel and look forward for another adventure. That’s life, as simple as that.
