Entrepreneurs Michele Baumann and Javier Loveday at their Nunu Boutique Hotel in Lamay, Perú
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.
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.
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.
Sacred Valley, region of Cusco
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.
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.
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.
El Explorador – one of the six themed guest houses
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.
The beautiful courtyard at the Nunu Boutique Hotel
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.
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.
Find out more about Nunu Boutique Hotel at
www.nunuboutiquehotel.com
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Nunu Boutique Hotel on tripadvisor
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