Hotel Viñas Queirolo
I loved having the restaurant right next to the swimming pool. The upstairs is where breakfast is served.
This was my first time staying at a winery hotel and it was fabulous. I loved seeing vineyards everywhere I looked, and I loved having such great wine on hand at every meal. Here are some of the highlights of my time at Hotel Viñas Queirolo.
The Hotel Viñas Queirolo Sunset Tour
This was my first evening at the hotel and it was lovely. We started with a tour of the winery, where we got to see where the grapes are fermented and also where pisco is aged. Queirolo makes some of the best pisco in Peru and during the tour the guide explained that the only ingredient in pisco is grape juice, just like wine is made from only grape juice. The difference is that after fermentation, pisco is distilled then aged in stainless steel tanks, while their wine is aged in French oak barrels.
After touring the winery and learning how both wine and pisco are made, we drove up to an overlook where we had a beautiful view of the whole Ica valley. We could see not only Queirolo’s vineyards, but also several neighboring wineries. At the overlook they served us sparkling wine and I took a lot of photos.
After sunset, we drove back down to the hotel and had a wine tasting. We started with a white wine, the Intipalka Patrimonial 2024 Torontel, and then a red wine, the Queirolo Family Reserve 2022 Malbec. They were both excellent. Next, we tasted a pisco, the Intipalka Mosto Verde pisco, which I must admit I didn’t like. Pisco is just too strong for me.
The Hotel Viñas Queirolo swimming pools
Another favorite thing at the hotel was the swimming pools. I only had time to swim in the large, heated pool that has an adjoining jacuzzi, which is right in front of the restaurant. There is also an adults-only cold plunge pool in the older wing of the hotel. If I had had more time during the heat of the day I would have definitely been in the cold pool. However, my days were full of tours, so I only had time for one of the pools. The third pool is kids only, and it’s next to the heated pool and the restaurant.
The Hotel Viñas Queirolo rooms and suites
I stayed in a superior room with a balcony that overlooked the vineyards, but as press, I got to tour the junior rooms and suites. All rooms and suites have large tile bathrooms with rain showers, double sinks and fluffy bathrobes. Toiletries were eco-friendly and in dispensers rather than disposable plastic bottles. The rooms are a deal at about $180 USD with everything included. I think that this is a great place to splurge on a suite because you get a very luxurious suite for half of what it would cost in Lima or Cusco. Prices are around $400 USD. The top six photos are suites and the bottom four are my room and balcony.
The Hotel Viñas Queirolo breakfast buffet
I could have spent all day having breakfast there! There were three separate buffets set up in the dining hall, which has a beautiful view of the pool on one side and vineyards on the other. The first buffet had coffee, tea, fresh fruit, various yoghurts and cereals. The second was hot dishes like eggs, potatoes, pancakes and French toast. The third was all pastries and breads, with at least a dozen different kinds of bread.
I also had lunch and dinner at the hotel and while the food was all good Peruvian and international fare, none of it was particularly creative. The wine list and creative pisco cocktails made up for the generic menu.
The Hotel Viñas Queirolo gardens and grounds
I loved the ancient ceramic vessels, which were used to age pisco in the 1800s. There was also a collection of antique cars and lots of outdoor spaces like an area with fire places where you could sit by a fire with a glass of wine in the evening.
Besides full bottles of wine in my room, I was also given a small bottle for enjoying around the vineyard.
The Hotel Viñas Queirolo story
The Queirolo Winery was founded by Santiago Queirolo who immigrated from Italy to Peru in 1877. The brand started a separate label called Intipalka in 2003. Intipalka means valley of sun in Quechua and it very accurately describes the Ica Valley. The coastal area of Peru is a desert where it rains only an inch or so a year. However, there is a massive aquifer that comes down from the Andes and the grapes in the Ica Valley are mostly watered by drip lines to conserve water.
