La Casa Morey, restored to it's original rubber boom grandeur
Marmelita and I were watching with great interest the restoration of a rubber boom era building on the Ramón Castilla Plaza, a couple of blocks from our offices. Finally, after a tremendous investment in time, planning, and work by Richard Bodmer, his wife Tula and their team at Amazon Eco, the 19th century La Casa Morey was reborn into the 21st century.
The foggy, early Sunday morning view over Ramon Castilla Plaza and the Itaya River, from the window of the number 2 suite
Because Dawn on the Amazon occasionally does small business with Amazon Eco, Marmelita and I have become friendly with Richard, his niece Erica who manages the hotel, and several of the crew. One day we stopped in for business and were invited to take the full tour of the recently restored historical Iquitos hotel, Casa Morey.
The swimming pool at La Casa Morey in Iquitos Peru
We were so impressed by what we saw on our tour that we decided to rent a room. We’re happy we did. La Casa Morey is as much museum as hotel. You don’t have many opportunities to live in a time machine.
The door to suite # 2 of La Casa Morey. Open it to go back in time to 1913.
Marmeltia and I spent the night in the finest embodiment of Victorian elegance in Iquitos. We opened the door and went back in time to 1913.
The sitting room in suite number 2 of La Casa Morey, Iquitos
To say that the rooms are spacious is an understatement.
Part of the interior of suite number two, La Casa Morey, Iquitos
The ceilings are tall. Everything in La Casa Morey is larger than life.
Even the bed is large in matrimonial suite number two, La Casa Morey.
I’ve stayed in hostel rooms that were smaller than the bathrooms in La Casa Morey.
The large bathroom is seven paces from the door to far wall
The bathroom is six paces from the door to the toilet. The only flaw worth mentioning was we didn’t have hot water. Very Victorian don’t you think? La Casa Morey advertises hot water and I’m sure they will have the hot water turned on in your room when you arrive.
La Casa Morey is part museum, part hotel
I can’t imagine how long it took to find all of the antique artifacts.
This is a functioning phone in suite number two at La Casa Morey, Iquitos.
Our suite was peaceful and free of commotion common to Iquitos. The air conditioning unit was very quiet. The room faced the Plaza Ramón Castilla, with a great view day and night.
The view from the window of La Casa Morey suite number two, looking out over the Ramon Castilla Plaza
La Casa Morey also has modern conveniences including air conditioned rooms, cable TV, and most important from my perspective, wireless internet. The windows are as large and the view as beautiful as the rest of Casa Morey. There is a classic Victorian dining room where the delicious complimentary breakfast is served. I like my coffee every morning and was pleased to drink the strong brewed coffee. Unusual in Iquitos.
There is also the most extensive library of historic books about Iquitos and and the rivers and rainforests that I know of.
Don’t forget the blessing of the beautiful pool.
Nice morning sunlight in suite number 2, La Casa Morey, Iquitos
Casa Morey is located at Av. Raimondi con Av. Loreto, Plaza Ramón Castilla, phone number (+51-65) 231913, email info@amazoneco.com, their excellent web site is www.lacasamorey.com.
The price is $50 for a single, $75 for a matrimonial, $90 double, $130 Triple. All of the prices include a good breakfast.
In conclusion, Marmelita and I were impressed with La Casa Morey. I particularly recommend staying there if you are interested in the history of Iquitos. Casa Morey is equal parts living museum and elegant hotel.
La Casa Morey is a perfect example of the tender loving care and respect every rubber boom era building in Iquitos should be treated with. Congratulations to Richard, Tula, and Amazon Eco. for a job well done. I appreciate your vision.
Casa Morey, Historic Iquitos Hotel
Bill Grimes is the unofficial, self appointed hotel and restaurant critic of Iquitos, the official self appointed president of Dawn on the Amazon Tours and Cruises, and the manager of the Amazon Golf Course.
{ 4 comments… read them below or add one }
Good job Bill, good review and finally a blog post by the author of the site.
Great post, Bill!
Thanks for this, I was curious to find out more about that building. I tried to view it some time ago, but it wasn’t open yet for business. Thanks for sharing the info and the pictures. These people did Iquitos a great favor, restoring one of their old gems to its former glory. I wonder if they would open it up to visitors who would like to see the inside.
BTW, considering the investment it must have taken, I thought the name on the front of the building was Casa Money!
Thanks Martin, Thanks Gart, your opinions are important to me.
Just for the record Martin, your consistent teasing caused me to make a count of how many blog articles I have personally written and published. I was disappointed to learn the answer was only 389, as of today, April 12th, 2011. I’m sure if I had written twice as many articles I would already be achieving my goal of averaging 1,000 unique views per day. Today I’m flirting with that goal. Google likes me. This morning I Googled Casa Morey and was pleased to see this article ranked 2nd, ahead of TripAdvisor and the Casa Morey web site. I hope the link from the Captain’s Blog to their site will help lift their site to #1. Andy’s article went to #1 on Google the second day after it was published, and number 6 for Backpackers Iquitos, and he has a link back to his website. That’s why lots of writers like to post on the Captain’s Blog. Everyone wins.
This is the home of my husband’s great grandfather – lovely to see it restored and cared for! We will have to visit on our next trip to Iquitos. Will be wonderful to spend some time within the spaces they lived so long ago.
Thank you for posting.
Mrs.Alberto Salazar de Morey