Lima has no shortage of places to sleep – but places that tell a story? Writer Sara Darling explores the playful, design-led energy of nhow Lima, the first Latin American outpost from the unconventional brand…
nhow Lima, a member of the Minor Hotels portfolio, opened in August 2025 and immediately injected a colourful jolt of irreverence into Miraflores – Lima’s most traveller-friendly barrio. Choosing to celebrate Peru’s ancient cultures then overlay them with neon streaks and 1980s arcade nostalgia, the overall vision is Inca masks meet Space Invaders in a way that somehow feels utterly coherent.
Image credit: nhow Lima
Planted on the corner of José Pardo and Atahualpa, the hotel is a five-minute stroll from Kennedy Park (aka the “cat park”) and ten from the cliff-top Malecón and its controversial new glass-floored bridge. Surfers paddle out below, paragliders drift overhead, and the Pacific crashes in reliably dramatic fashion. Miraflores hums with restaurants, galleries and late-night cevicherías, yet the hotel’s bold façade – a glowing, translucent tower topped with an oversized ‘n’ ensures you’ll never miss your way home.
Barcelona-based Studio Capella has taken Peru’s layered heritage and run it through a mischievous, pop-culture filter. Corridors become mini-galleries of disguised Inca icons; headboards riff on Cusco textiles and Machu Picchu geometry; and a life sized llama in sunglasses guard the bar’s fireplace (a glorious 3D creation by Peruvian artist Luis Salazar).
Image credit: nhow Lima
There are 243 rooms in total, from standard to a panoramic penthouse which all keep the theme alive with neon accents, woven cushions and robes patterned after ancient motifs. It’s theatrical without tipping into gimmick, comforting without ever being bland. Think living inside a very stylish, very Peruvian mood board. Even entry-level rooms feel generous, with rain showers, smart lighting and those clever cultural touches. An upgrade to a premium or studio allows for more space and better views. The constant is the Inca-meets-modern ethos: earthy materials grounded by bursts of colour and wit. Beds are divine, black-out curtains effective, and a stocked minibar, steamer and Nespresso machine.
Image credit: nhow Lima
Zönico restaurant on the third floor, helmed by well-travelled chef Wilfred Dass turns heritage ingredients into bright, approachable plates with a Peruvian touch. Up on the 13th-floor rooftop, the mosaic-tiled pool is flanked by day beds and sweeping ocean-and-city vistas; by day it’s relaxed, by night the adjoining pool bar morphs into one of Miraflores’ buzziest scenes. Pagano, the sultry rooftop bar proper, channels Amazonian mysticism with low lighting and ambitious cocktails (the main space is open; a more intimate speakeasy extension, run in collaboration with the Handshake team, is slated for early 2026).
image credit: nhow Lima
The sustainability ethos of the proeprty is quietly efficient, with LED everything, sensor-controlled energy in rooms, and a heavy use of local artisans and materials. Nothing is shouted from the (very stylish) rooftops, which feels exactly right.
The city has long excelled at food and history, and nhow Lima adds a fresh layer of contemporary swagger. My stay felt less like checking into a hotel and more like being let in on the city’s coolest secret – bold, rooted, and impossible to ignore. In a destination that keeps reinventing itself, this is the rare opening that already feels indispensable.
Main image credit: nhow Lima
