Hotel fights altitude with piped oxygen
A hotel in the Peruvian Andes has decided to pipe extra oxygen into its bedrooms to help guests suffering from altitude sickness.
Among those affected at the Hotel Monasterio is manager Laurent Carrasset, who said he suffers from nausea, insomnia, loss of appetite, irritability and breathlessness every time he returns from his native France.
The hotel is 3,400 metres above sea level in Cuzco, once the capital of the Inca civilisation. Many visitors reach it by flying directly from Lima, which is at sea level. The rapid one-hour ascent means about 30% of guests get altitude sickness.
Most of the hotel's 148 staff are locals who are already acclimatised, but above 3,000 metres it takes two to three months for people to adapt to the lack of oxygen and start producing more red blood cells.
The oxygen production tank is part of a $4.5m (£3.1m) refurbishment of the 123-bedroom former 16th-century monastery. By the end of the year oxygen will be piped into 50 bedrooms. Guests will pay a surcharge of about $25(£17) a night for the bedrooms, where windows will have to be kept shut.
Owner Orient-Express operates 27 luxury hotels around the world, three of which are in Peru.
Source: Caterer & Hotelkeeper magazine, 22-28 November 2001
