There is already something like a formula luxury hotel. This is the kind of recipe that everyone uses. hotelierscreating a new hotel. Here is the recipe: the latest electronic gadgets in the room, personal round the clock service for every guest, top-quality bed linen, beautiful design, fresh and delicious food. These are required components. Step left, step right – and you run the risk of being not quite deluxe… Perhaps I’m too picky, but don’t you think that all this is, well, something, old, dull and monotonous? In addition: now the most important trend in luxury culture is simplicity. Firstly. And secondly: what is really rare and at the same time forms a real, genuine Suiteso this is a hotel combined with a location. Yes, location matters. In which all the components of the recipe listed above would really play in favor of the guest and his comfort, and would not remain empty templates. The place should be so unusual, beautiful and (or) interesting in itself that only the hotel there was not enough to really feel good there. And at the same time, it is very important that the hotel be so precisely balanced that there would be no contrast between the place and the hotel. On the contrary, there would be complete harmony.
One of these unusual places is Copan Valley in Honduras, not far from the Honduran-Guatemalan border … Recently I was lucky enough to visit there. And live in eco-lodge Hacienda San Lucas.
What is interesting Copan valley and the adjacent village. It’s very simple: the main attraction here is the recently become really fashionable ruins of Copan. The ruins of the ancient city of the Mayan Indians. And just above these ruins, on a green hill, among tropical trees, a small private property lurked. mansion, which has been owned by a family that has recently organized a hotel in it for a hundred years. Hacienda San Lucas, lodge with eight rooms, in which – attention! – no plasma TV, no jacuzzi, no multifunctional console, with which you can, without getting out of bed, control the intensity of light and turn on all kinds of devices. Yes, and there are no such devices here either. There is not even a telephone … This is a luxury of a very special kind. This is the luxury of good taste, luxury subtle, impeccable sense of style. It is this sense of style that the owner of this establishment, Flavia Chieva, has. She thought through every detail and as a result created a place where you can actually relax from everything. real retreat.
For example, when I arrived there, I was immediately struck by one detail: the smell. The smell of burning wood. And sounds. It was the sound of a fresh corn tortilla being turned over on the fire. I looked around. There were tropical thickets around, mountains were visible in the distance, and below lay the Copan valley with those very famous ruins. The rooms were simple: wooden ceilings covered with white stucco, walls decorated with Honduran tapestries, and smooth stone floors. In the evening, the entire mansion is illuminated by countless candles – and the rooms, and the aisles, and the dining room.
There is also a separate practice pavilion. yoga and for meditations. From there, a wide view of the Mayan ruins opens up. Yoga is taught by a Canadian named Leah Glatz.
Honduras. Copan valley. Summary.
Where to stay: Hacienda San Lucas – rating 5.
