What Happened When I Underestimated One of the World’s Highest Cities
What Happened When I Underestimated One of the World’s Highest Cities
cristi Croitoru/iStock
https://www.fodors.com/world/south-america/peru/experiences/news/what-its-like-to-deal-with-altitude-sickness-in-peru
I thought I was ready for life at 11,000 feet. I was wrong.
I should start with a confession: when people warned me about the altitude in Cusco, Peru, I nodded politely, smiled, and instantly ignored everything they said.
“I’ll be fine,” I told myself. I’ve been to, like, Denver, and didn’t have any problems. How bad could it really be?
Spoiler: very bad.
Cusco sits at 11,000 feet–a full two vertical miles above sea level–and more than twice as high as Denver. When I stepped out of the Cusco airport, I took a deep breath, and it felt good–crisp and full. “See,” I reasoned. “Nothing to worry about.”
Underestimating the Andes
As I checked into the JW Marriott El Convento, a beautifully restored 16th-century convent turned hotel, the front desk clerk asked, “Are you feeling the altitude yet?”
Clearly, they get this a lot.
“Not at all,” I said. Remember, I’ve been to Denver.
“Good,” she replied. “It’s best not to think about it.”
She then immediately steered me toward the table next to the front desk, where complimentary remedies for altitude sickness were laid out. Coca tea, made from the same leaves as cocaine, is recommended for the daytime, while muña, or Andean mint tea, is preferred in the evening, as it is caffeine-free.
Channeling my best Tony Montana, I grabbed a bag of coca, dropped it into hot water, and assumed I had just made myself bulletproof.
Considered the oldest living city in South America, with structures dating back 3,000 years, Cusco feels a bit otherworldly. Inca engineering, Spanish architecture, and souvenir shops selling kitschy shirts all co-exist as a kind of breathing museum.
It also has an aggressive amount of stairs.
As I wandered the cobblestone streets, my breathing became noticeably labored.
“No worries,” I assured myself, “I’ll just take my time.”
Payton Sparks/iStock
The Slow Decline
I woke the next day with a low-grade headache and lips so chapped they felt like sandpaper. I was warned that the altitude could cause dehydration, but I wasn’t expecting this. I quickly chugged two bottles of water, slathered on some lip balm, and headed to the lobby for some more coca tea.
Still determined to explore, I set out on the streets in search of Inca architecture, ancient ruins, and strong coffee that might cut through the fatigue. I climbed endless stairs and walked along mountain roads to reach Sacsayhuamán, the remains of a 15th-century Inca citadel overlooking the city.
The whole time, my body was saying, Why are you doing this to us?
But I soldiered on.
Denial works…until it doesn’t.
The Great Descent
Day three arrived with me tired, dried out, and ready to give up, like a Kardashian after that first look in the morning mirror.
But today was Machu Picchu day. So I dragged myself out of bed, grabbed my bag, and headed to the station.
And here’s where the universe rewarded me.
I boarded the Hiram Bingham, the luxury train to Machu Picchu, for an experience so lavishly old-world it felt like stepping into an Agatha Christie novel.
Plush seats. Polished brass. A multi-course gourmet brunch. A bar car where a band played Peruvian classics mixed with American rock ‘n’ roll. And outside every window, unspoiled countryside rolled past in long, quiet stretches.
And as the train entered the Sacred Valley, something miraculous happened: I felt better. Of course, it wasn’t a miracle; it was simple geography. Machu Picchu sits 3,000 feet below Cusco, so the slow descent into the Andes had unexpectedly cured all that ailed me.
Then There Was Machu Picchu
Machu Picchu has the rare distinction of being both entirely overhyped and yet still better than advertised.
The Incas chose that site with such astronomical precision that the sun, shadows, and stones all align in ways that still baffle. Pictures and pithy writeups can’t do it justice, so I will spare you mine.
You just have to go.
Bill Caco
The Altitude Strikes Back
On the way back, the train was hoppin’.
People crammed into the bar car, hoisted Amazonian-themed cocktails, shared stories of the day’s adventures, and danced to the Peruvian version of “Livin’ on a Prayer.” It was one of the most enchanting travel experiences of my life.
And then, as the train started climbing closer to Cusco, my symptoms slowly returned.
The headache.
The shallow breathing.
The fatigue.
By the time I stepped off the train—stomach full and several pisco sours deep—I just wanted to curl up into a ball and let the darkness take me.
Back at the JW Marriott, I remembered something they told me at check-in: they offered complimentary oxygen for guests struggling with altitude sickness. At the time, I found it amusing, like a quirky gimmick meant to add some local color for the tourists.
Now it sounded like salvation.
I asked for it at the front desk, expecting them to hand me a little metal canister like you’d find at CVS. Instead, they told me to go to my room, and they would have it sent up straight away.
Ten minutes later, a man appeared at my door wheeling a full-sized medical oxygen tank with him.
“Good evening, sir,” he said, “I’m a paramedic with the hotel. May I come in?”
A paramedic seemed like overkill, but sure come on in. I sat on the bed and slipped on the oxygen mask.
“Let’s check your O2 level,” he said, slipping an oximeter on my finger.
Eighty-five percent.
“Is that bad?” I asked.
“It’s low,” is all he said.
It wasn’t until I Googled it later that I learned that an O2 level below 90% is considered serious. Levels below 85% enter severe hypoxemia territory, where things can begin affecting your brain.
Luckily, after about 10 minutes of sucking down that sweet, sweet oxygen, I was back up to 99%. Crisis averted.
For the moment, at least.
The Price of Admission
I woke the next morning feeling sick again, but there wasn’t much I could do other than hydrate, pack, and get myself to the airport. I’d never been more excited to just sit inside a pressurized airplane cabin and breathe that wonderful recycled air.
My time in Cusco was not relaxing. It did not leave me refreshed. But that was never the point.
Travel, at its best, isn’t clean or controlled. It’s uneven. It’s uncomfortable. It knocks you around a bit.
But then there are the moments—sipping a cocktail as the Andes roll past the window, glimpsing Machu Picchu through the mist, singing with a bunch of strangers in a train car—and you realize it’s all part of the price of admission.
Hotel markets across Africa take big leaps toward sophistication and fit-for-purpose investment
Capital allocation across Africa is maturing, Kasada Capital Management exec says
Kasada’s David Damiba said one African country that has long attracted international capital and operators is Ivory Coast. Pictured is Abidjan, its business center on the country's southern coast. (Getty Images)
https://www.costar.com/article/24358251/hotel-markets-across-africa-take-big-leaps-toward-sophistication-and-fit-for-purpose-investment
Each year, hotel markets across Africa pass major milestones in their quest to maturation.
David Damiba, managing partner and co-CEO of Johannesburg-based Kasada Capital Management, has witnessed the evolution of hotel investment and financing across Africa in a career that has spanned decades.
“I’ve seen effectively 20 years of evolution in investment across Africa in the hospitality sector. … You’re looking at owners who might be fragmented as there are not too many institutional owners, but they tend to be sophisticated investors,” Damiba said the latest episode of CoStar News Hotels’ podcast “The Upgrade: EMEA Hospitality News.”
“In terms of [hotel] operations, owners are knowledgeable about their lack of knowledge,” Damiba added.
With 54 nations across Africa, each country is at a different stage of growth and maturity as far as hotel investors are concerned, he said.
“Egypt, Morocco and South Africa are in a bucket by themselves. And you have countries like [Ivory Coast] that have a long history of adding international operators in as well. It varies,” Damiba said.
Damiba spends a great deal of time analyzing, following capital trends and securing debt in Africa, which is another realm that is becoming very sophisticated across the continent, he said.
Kasada set itself up as investor and lender in 2019 and now owns 20 hotels and approximately 3,500 rooms in seven African countries.
“When you have scale, you can have really interesting conversations, not only with local lenders — meaning the larger banks in those individual countries — but also regional lenders and pan-African lenders,” Damiba said. “We have these three layers already, and above that layer you also have the development-finance institutions ... who are interested in participating in funding that sector due to its impact on tourism.
“We have actually found that with scale you have quite a bit of access to funding, and then the question becomes — and this has been the big story in Africa — that often you would have financing but it was not fit for purpose, meaning that the financing itself would not be structured in a way that enabled a hotel to operate.”
Alignment between hotel owners and operators exists a great deal more now across Africa, and Damiba said the process of investment being more fit for purpose is poised to keep growing.
“With scale, you will see more, what I will call, almost non-amortizing bond issuance, or bullet loans … which will put less pressure on hotel operations,” he said.
Damiba, who has been investing for nearly three decades — 20 of them in Africa — said his path in the industry grew from his love of travel mixed with the complexity he found in finding financing solutions for African hotels and hospitality.
“Earlier this year, I did the math … and I have spent about six years in hotels,” he said.
For more from Kasada Capital Management's David Damiba, listen to the podcast embedded above.
The Best Caribbean Food and Wine Festival Is Happening on This Island
Nils Huenerfuerst on social or copy the text below to attribute. Photo by Nils Huenerfuerst/Unsplash
https://www.fodors.com/world/caribbean/puerto-rico/experiences/news/a-look-inside-puerto-ricos-wine-food-festival
What it’s like to attend the beachfront culinary weekend taking over San Juan.
Puerto Rico’s food scene is one of the most exciting in the Caribbean right now, fueled by incredible restaurants, strong local culture, and yes, probably a bit of Reggaeton in the background. And there may be no better place to throw yourself directly into the magic than La Concha Resort, the iconic Condado Beach property that hosted the second annual Puerto Rico Wine & Food Festival.
Heavy hitters like chefs Marcus Samuelsson, Esther Choi, Michael White, Mario Pagán, and Monti Carlo descended for four days of walk-around tastings, curated dinners, wine seminars, and the kind of immersive culinary experiences that genuinely make you question why you ever bother cooking at home. But honestly, the whole thing felt less like a traditional food festival and more like one giant beachfront dinner party where someone was constantly materializing out of nowhere with a passed tray of incredible bites or a ridiculously good nightcap to hand off.
By day, La Concha leans fully into vacation mode with poolside sips, ocean views, and the kind of beach naps where you wake up, and suddenly it’s sunset. Days drift between coastal Mediterranean plates at Levant, hand rolls at Tekka Bar, fresh catches at AQA Oceanfront, and blended drinks at Marena that are nearly impossible to stop ordering. By night, the property completely flips into party mode with DJs, stilt performers, dancing under the stars, and wine being poured basically everywhere you look.
Beyond the resort, Old San Juan is all about candy-colored historic streets, classic local restaurants like Deaverdura, Juanes, La Casita Blanca, and Sato Fino, plus all the mofongo, piragua, and tostones your heart desires. You may book the trip for the beach, but somewhere between the frozen cocktails and the late-night festival bites, the food becomes the entire point, and you’ll start plotting your return before you’ve even left. And keep your eyes open: this is Bad Bunny’s island after all, and a man has to eat somewhere.
Hyatt strengthens Inclusive Collection exec team with new SVP of Commercial
https://hotelsmag.com/news/hyatt-strengthens-inclusive-collection-exec-team-with-new-svp-of-commercial/
Hyatt Hotels Corp. has announced the appointment of Eduardo Schutte as SVP, Commercial, Hyatt Inclusive Collection.
In this role, Schutte will lead the commercial strategy for Hyatt’s Inclusive Collection, overseeing sales, revenue management, brand, marketing, distribution and other commercial functions, with a focus on enhancing commercial performance, driving brand preference, strengthening distribution capabilities and reinforcing Hyatt’s leadership in the leisure segment. He will report to Javier Águila, president, Inclusive Collection, Hyatt and work in close alignment with Hyatt’s chief commercial officer, Mark Vondrasek.
“Eduardo brings a rare combination of hospitality operating depth, sophisticated distribution expertise and enterprise-scale commercial leadership, all of which will be invaluable as we continue to grow and strengthen Hyatt’s Inclusive Collection,” said Águila. “Under his leadership, I’m confident our commercial organization will reach new heights and play an even greater role in delivering on our ambition to be the world’s best all-inclusive organization.”
Most recently serving as chief commercial officer of Cross Border Xpress, Schutte brings more than 30 years of senior commercial leadership across global hospitality, travel technology and asset-backed platforms. His career has included leadership roles at Grupo Posadas, TravelClick, LXR Luxury Resorts & Hotels, Hilton and Amadeus, where he built a track record across sales, marketing, revenue management, distribution, pricing, strategic collaborations and business development.
Hyatt’s Inclusive Collection currently comprises more than 150 resorts and nearly 58,000 rooms across Latin America, the Caribbean and Europe. The portfolio’s recent openings include Dreams Playa Esmeralda Resort & Spa, Secrets St. Lucia Resort & Spa, Secrets Baby Beach Aruba and Secrets Mirabel Cancun Resort & Spa; extensive renovations of Secrets Playa Mujeres Golf & Spa Resort and Hyatt Zilara Cancun; and planned openings such as Hyatt Vivid Punta Cana, Park Hyatt Riviera Maya and Grand Hyatt Los Cabos before the end of 2026.
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