Malone Travels (London/Paris, Yucatan, Peru): Ninos Hotel

We should share part of the charm of our current hotel - Ninos Hotel, located in Cuzco, Peru. We've found that the hotel has two locations in Cuzco, each with terrific service. The staff have all been friendly and helpful. The food has been such a treat. Our room is spacious and comfortable, including our en suite bathroom. Yet, even with all of these positive attributes, Ninos stands apart for one other reason.

Starting in 1996, Jolanda van den Berg, Dutch expat, arrived in Cuzco, Peru for good. The many street children Jolanda had observed weighed on her heart and she decided to take in two children. Over the next year this grew to twelve children, all boys. It all started with a rented room and a desire to remove neglected children from the streets. It would soon turn into much more.

In order to provide in a more consistent way, Jolanda decided to open up a hotel. Not only would this allow her to be less dependent on donations and provide a more steady income, it would serve as a place to teach the boys skills, while creating a platform from which to share their stories. With the help of generous donors, the first hotel opened its doors in July 1998. Due to the surprising success of the first hotel, plans were made to open the first Ninos restaurant, only for children, in April 2000. Two years later the second restaurant opened for children, followed by the second Ninos hotel. Two additional restaurants for children were opened in 2004. The latest addition was the third hotel property in the village of Huasao in the South Valley in 2007. A restaurant for children opened there as well to serve underprivileged children in the surrounding communities. You can read more about the story and continuing projects at www.ninoshotel.com.

Altogether the various projects feed approx. 600 children daily, provide the opportunity for hot showers, assistance with homework, sports lessons, and dental and doctor appointments. The facilities for children are open 6 days a week. In fact, we were able to see several of the children firsthand when we arrived on Saturday. Behind our courtyard is a second courtyard where we saw the children playing. We didn't take an official tour, but from what we were able to observe, there is a full sized gymnasium, dining/homework area, and an outdoor courtyard. The kids were super cute and as energetic as any kids I know. Each of the rooms here is named after one of the girls that Jolanda has taken in. Our room is named Chabela. All of the rooms at the location on Meloc St are named after the twelve boys Jolanda originally took in. It is a very neat non-profit, indeed! We're excited to do a very small part in supporting the organization and the well-being of so many Peruvian kiddos! Make sure to check it out if you plan on visiting Cuzco anytime in the near future!