Lima
Peru


The Experience

The country club in this case refers to the historic golf course across the street rather than the hotel itself. But this old abode in Lima's swank San Isidro neighborhood does have a clubby sort of atmosphere. Step inside and the bumper-to-bumper traffic, unrelenting noise and pollution that plague the Peruvian capital quickly fade away. The Country Club is too large to be termed a boutique hotel, but in the same breath it exudes an intimacy lacking in Lima's larger (mostly Western chain) hotels. Its trump card is stunning architecture: The vintage 1927 mansion blends Spanish colonial icons like red-tile roofs and whitewashed walls with genuine antiques and artwork as well as European neoclassical touches like the stately glass-domed lobby.

The Rooms

The wealthy Peruvians who built this place obviously didn't believe in small rooms or low ceilings because the first thing you notice about the Country Club suites is their copious proportions. Tall windows bring in plenty of light and provide sweeping vistas of the central courtyard or the leafy golf links on the other side of the avenue. Original artwork aside, the decor is lackluster and a little past its prime. But the rooms are not without their modern touches, and there's ample workspace as well as a cushy sofa. The Governor's Rooms are even larger, with a sitting area and bathroom that sports separate shower and Jacuzzi tub.

The Service

In a city with a reputation for rather mediocre service, the Country Club stands head and shoulders above the rest. One of the few irritations is not so much service-oriented but structural: Like many old Latin American hotels, this one can get noisy at times, mostly from events unfolding inside that echo throughout the building. Bring earplugs.

The Highlights

You can work up a sweat in the gym, swim laps in the pool or skip across the street to the Lima Golf Club. Founded in 1924, the links are among the oldest in South America, a handsome 18-hole course that stretches through a former olive grove. Return back to Perroquet restaurant, which cooks up some of the best hotel food in Lima—especially Peruvian dishes like fresh ceviche (on a bed of hominy corn). Take tea in the lobby bar, with its celebrated stained-glass ceiling, and breakfast on the terrace, luxuriating in the peaceful cocoon that keeps the Lima madness at bay.

-- Joe Yogerst

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