Santa Maria Hotel

The Santa Maria Hotel is an innovative project of ethical tourism.

More than just accommodations, when you stay at Santa Maria you are supporting the community and have the opportunity to connect on a personal level with the owner/manager. While accommodations are simple, a visit to Santa Maria has been a favorite experience for many of our guests.

The hotel project was founded in 2006 to provide leadership and work opportunities for local young people from humble backgrounds. Milciades, one of the youth, demonstrated outstanding leadership and vision and became the full time manager. Miliades received a scholarship to study English in England and speaks English well.  He is happy to provide walking tours of the village.

The hotel is located in a former colonial home and has five bedrooms, each with its own bathroom and air-conditioning. Three of the rooms have a double bed in small rooms, and two of the rooms are spacious (we try to request these for our guests). The hotel also has a beautiful garden, hammocks, and a collection of books about Paraguay and the Jesuits.

Meals are prepared especially for guests and served either in the dining room, at the table in the shared lounge, or outside under the share of the trees, weather permitting.

The hotel is located in front of the plaza which is home to many chatty parakeets and a family of howler monkeys. If you offer them bananas and they are hungry, the monkeys will descend to the lower branches to take the bananas right from your hand!

The Jesuit museum, located within an original “casa de indios” from the Jesuit period is just one block from the hotel.

Amenities:

• WiFi
• Air-conditioning
• On-site meals (home-cooked, prepared for guests)
• Outdoor patio/garden
• English, Spanish