Titilaka

From the Hideaway Report

November 2010 Hideaway Report

Located at nearly 13,000 feet on the border between Peru and Bolivia, Lake Titicaca is the second-largest in South America, with an area of 3,232 square miles. Today, the thriving city of Puno dominates the northwestern shoreline, while elsewhere, the native people exist much as they have for centuries, harvesting totora reeds with which to construct boats, as well as the 42 artificial floating islands on which many of them live. Owing to the altitude, the surface of Lake Titicaca is an astonishing luminous blue, in which are reflected the peaks of Bolivia’s majestic Cordillera Real, notably 21,086-foot Mount Ancohuma and 20,867-foot Mount Illampu.

After a two-hour, 50-mile drive from the nearest airport in Juliaca, our hearts sank as we turned down a small road toward the lake and first spotted the Titilaka hotel. “Utilitarian” seemed a generous adjective to apply to its boxy red-brick architecture. But the second we set foot through the door, we realized that we had come to a special place.

Created in 2007 by a scion of the family that owns Peru’s distinguished Inkaterra properties, the hotel has 18 loft-like accommodations. Our elegant and sophisticated suite was dominated by a large window, beneath which matching daybeds provided a perfect spot for an afternoon read. A full-length glass wall separated a raised wet area—appointed with a slatted wood floor, double vanities, a separate slate-clad rainfall shower and a deep oval soaking tub—from the sleeping/living area.

The most appealing public room is the open-plan dining room/lounge, a light-washed space with floor-to-ceiling windows; a high, timbered ceiling; and comfortable sitting area (which at the end of the day provides a venue for a convivial house cocktail party). The food is very light with a Mediterranean cast, and we especially enjoyed a delicious pumpkin soup followed by fettuccine with smoked trout.

Numerous excursions are available, including tours among the indigenous peoples on Taquile Island and the Uros floating islands. This is one of those enchanting, end-of-the-world places where you feel you have succeeded in leaving the humdrum and inessential behind. One night after dinner, we strolled out onto the deck off the dining room and stared up at the blazing night sky. Owing to the altitude and the clarity of the air, we felt as though we were being lifted off our feet into the cosmos.

Amenities