Review - Miraflores Park, A Belmond Hotel, Lima

Miraflores Park, A Belmond Hotel, Lima

November 23rd, 2024

Posts in this series:

Introduction - The Best of Peru with Belmond

Review - Copa Airlines Business Class B737-800 Ft. Lauderdale to Panama City

Review - Copa Airlines Business Class B737-800 Panama City to Lima

Review - Miraflores Park, A Belmond Hotel, Lima

Review - El Salon by Newrest Lima

Review - LATAM Airlines Premium Economy Class A319 Lima to Cusco

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Review - Hiram Bingham, A Belmond Train

Review - Sanctuary Lodge, A Belmond Hotel, Machu Picchu

Review - Avianca Business Class A320 Lima to Bogotá

Review - Emirates Business Class B777-300ER Bogotá to Miami

Enroute:

Our first stop in Peru was the capital city of Lima. Lima doesn’t have the most exciting hotel options. There’s a slew of Marriott properties like the JW, the Westin and the Sheraton. Just like any LatAm metropolis, Lima is a sprawling city with over 10 million residents, so it helps to decide what you want to do first and then pick a hotel based on location.

The only luxury hotel in the city was the Miraflores Park Hotel, which was a Belmond property. As the name suggested, this hotel was in the Miraflores neighborhood. The property sat on the bluff overlooking the Pacific Ocean, so the view was fantastic. It was somewhat removed from all the restaurants and shopping in Miraflores, but a 10-minute Uber should cost you around $2.

Check-in:

We arrived in the early morning, so I took some photos the next day. The lobby was quite grand, with a spiral staircase, a library and a resplendent floral arrangement.

Miraflores Park, A Belmond Hotel, Lima Lobby

Given the crossover Belmond had between hotels and trains, there was a replica of a carriage in the library. I believe it was the Venice Simplon-Orient-Express?

During check-in, we were offered a hot towel and a welcome drink of choice. We just had water, which was poured from a bottle tableside.

Miraflores Park, A Belmond Hotel, Lima Welcome Beverage

Unpack:

After check-in, we were escorted to our room by a friendly associate. Base level rooms at Miraflores Park were marketed as junior suites. While I probably wouldn’t call it a junior suite, it was spacious enough. Our room was located on floor 3, which was one of the club floors.

Miraflores Park, A Belmond Hotel, Lima Hallway

Upon entry, the room felt refreshed for a hotel of this vintage, in particular the bathroom, which was just to the left.

Miraflores Park, A Belmond Hotel, Lima Club Junior Suite Entryway

To the right of the entryway was a closet.

Miraflores Park, A Belmond Hotel, Lima Club Junior Suite Closet

As I mentioned, the bathroom was nicely renovated.

Miraflores Park, A Belmond Hotel, Lima Club Junior Suite Bathroom

Toiletries were in reusable containers, so I couldn’t find out about the brand. They felt high quality, though. I know it wasn’t Oribe, but the shampoo reminded me of the Gold Lust shampoo from Oribe.

Next up was the bedroom. It wasn’t as modern as the bathroom, it was still well appointed.

Miraflores Park, A Belmond Hotel, Lima Club Junior Suite Bedroom

There were some details that made the room more upscale than it appeared, like the Belmond geometric pattern on the duvet, the bottle holder at turndown and the pillow menu. Aesthetically speaking it wasn’t the most in-your-face luxurious room, but it was understated and cozy.

Miraflores Park, A Belmond Hotel, Lima Club Junior Suite Linen

Each night at turndown, the housekeeping would place a small card on the nightstand with tidbits about Lima.

Miraflores Park, A Belmond Hotel, Lima Club Junior Suite Turndown

Across from the bed was a desk, along with a TV and a dresser.

You can tell all the Belmond properties in Peru were owned by the same company, as they all had this little box with the property name on the outside, and postcards and directories inside.

Miraflores Park, A Belmond Hotel, Lima Club Junior Suite Directory

Miraflores Park, A Belmond Hotel, Lima Club Junior Suite Pillow Menu

Miraflores Park, A Belmond Hotel, Lima Club Junior Suite Postcards

On the desk you could also find the coffee machine and tea kettle.

Miraflores Park, A Belmond Hotel, Lima Club Junior Suite Coffee Machine

Miraflores Park, A Belmond Hotel, Lima Club Junior Suite Minibar

Look how cute the tea packaging was!

Miraflores Park, A Belmond Hotel, Lima Club Junior Suite Tea

A stocked minibar was on offer.

Unfortunately, there was a conference in town, so all the ocean view rooms were already occupied. I thought the room was very comfortable. Lima is a hectic city, but every time I returned to our room, I felt like I could truly unwind from the hustle and bustle in the outside world. And thanks to its location on a neighborhood park with minimal through traffic, there was literally zero noise. On our first night I couldn’t help but notice how quiet it was, and we were only on the third floor.

Unwind:

One of the coolest amenities of this hotel was its rooftop pool. The weather could’ve been more cooperative, but the pool deck itself bolstered sweeping views of the coastline and the Pacific Ocean.

Miraflores Park, A Belmond Hotel, Lima Rooftop Pool

It would be a crime to not witness the sunset at least once from this vantage. There’s something majestic yet eerie to think that there’s no civilization between this pool and French Polynesia.

Adjacent to the pool was the Zest Spa. The facility itself was quite compact - there was a sauna big enough for two (it’d be a squeeze). The rest were just treatment rooms. The receptionist at the spa was lovely. Normally, you would fill out the spa questionnaire yourself. Since I was the only person there, she just asked me some questions and filled out the form for me. Prior to my treatment, I was asked what I’d like to drink. I went with some herbal tea.

Miraflores Park, A Belmond Hotel, Lima Zest Spa

I used the sauna before the message. Due to its small size, the sauna was reserved, so you wouldn’t be sharing it with anyone.

Miraflores Park, A Belmond Hotel, Lima Zest Spa Sauna

I chose the 90-minute hot stone massage. You can find the entire menu here. The message itself was great.

Another thing to note about the spa was the disposable underwear. I’m used to seeing those adult diaper-esque ones, but the ones here were more like silky spandex shorts. I thought about asking for a new pair just in case I ran out of clean undies on this trip, lol.

Refuel:

Breakfast at Miraflores Park was served at the Observatory, right next to the rooftop pool. Belmond properties are mostly boutique, so this restaurant was also pretty intimate. The below pictures were about as busy as it got for our visits.

Miraflores Park, A Belmond Hotel, Lima The Observatory Restaurant

There was a decent buffet spread, consisting mostly of continental options.

You could make your own brunch cocktails, but the staff were happy to do it for you as well.

A à la carte menu was presented once we sat down. The menu reads as follows:

Sadly I only had breakfast here twice during our four-night stay. The food was terrific, and you simply can’t beat the view.

Miraflores Park, A Belmond Hotel, Lima The Observatory Restaurant Breakfast

Next to the reception was the Belo Bar. We didn’t have a chance to drink here, but it looked quite nice.

Miraflores Park, A Belmond Hotel, Lima Belo Bar

We visited the executive lounge on a couple occasions. Unlike most executive lounges, there was no breakfast served here or evening hors d'œuvres. Instead, beers, wines and soft drinks were available throughout the day, plus some sandwiches and sweets. I asked if they had any pisco there, cause, you know, when in Peru. The staff told me they would make an exception and get it from the downstairs bar for me. I declined their kind offer, knowing I’d be having one at dinner in short order.

Miraflores Park, A Belmond Hotel, Lima Executive Lounge

The lounge was mostly empty, so it was a great place to work from if you want to get out of your room.

One day my partner was out for a meeting, so I ordered room service for lunch.

Miraflores Park, A Belmond Hotel, Lima Room Service

I had a Peruvian noodle soup as a starter and the catch of the day as the main.

The staff who delivered the food pointed out this tea, which she recommended drinking after the meal to help with digestion.

The very highlight of the hotel was its Tragaluz restaurant. This place was lively with locals in the evenings. One evening there was even a cocktail reception outside on the terrace. You can see the full menu here.

Miraflores Park, A Belmond Hotel, Lima Tragaluz Restaurant

We started with a quintessential Peruvian cocktail, el Capitán, which is like a manhattan but with pisco.

After we ordered, bread and chips were brought to us, along with butter and some kind of aioli.

An amuse-bouche followed. I forgot what this was.

The menu here was versatile and a fusion of many cuisines. It’s not one of those menus from a Chinese restaurant with hundreds of dishes, but it had everything from tiraditos to seafood to pastas to red meats. Peru has many rivers, in fact, the Amazon River originates in the Peruvian Andes. These tributaries provide fertile environment for river prawns and fresh water fishes. We wanted to try the river prawn but didn’t want to commit to the whole main course, so the chef was kind enough to prepare us a river prawn ceviche.

These river prawns were incredibly sweet, as sweet as langoustines but with a slightly firmer texture. Does anyone know if they are related to those Thai river prawns? The head of the prawn was beautifully fried. I wasn’t sure why, but it also came with some fried calamari🤣.

Razor clams are one of my favorite clams, so I had to order them when I saw them on the menu. These came with artichoke purée and furikake seasoning and did not disappoint.

For main course, we shared a duck magret in a sweet miso demi-glace. Which one of y’all geniuses came up with this? Cause this slapped. I don’t think I can go back to eating a basic ass duck à l'orange ever again. This is the kind of breasts I can get behind😈.

The duck came with one of the best fried rice I’ve ever had - each grain was perfectly tossed in the sauce and not a drop of excess oil was found on the plate. Good fried rice should be light and fluffy. This one ticked both boxes.

The waiter strongly suggested the truffle cacio e pepe with bavette steak, which sounded like two dishes but nope. So you are telling me not a single Italian person in the history of Italy had ever thought to combine the two together??? None of them Roman emperors woke up one day and was like, uhm, maybe I want to add steak to my pasta for lunch???

Look, Peru has great food, and Lima’s culinary scene is thriving. The bars are high. I’m not saying this was the best food I had in Peru, but damn, if this place were in Miami, I’d be there once a month.

Depart:

Miraflores Park is currently the best hotel in Lima. While the JW might have more modern accommodation, Miraflores Park only has 89 rooms. If you stay here for more than a couple of nights, you’d start running into the same porters, the same concierge and the same wait staff in restaurants. When I was waiting for my Uber one time, a porter came up to chat and asked me where I was headed. I told him about this whiskey bar I was going to, and we started talking about the bar scene in Lima. I really loved how seemingly everyone in Peru was so into good food and good drinks. It’s not even about some fancy fine dining or chef’s counters, just that people appreciate the small things in life that bring them joy. From Miraflores Park, we caught a flight to Cusco, and I couldn’t wait to see more of this country.

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