Hotel Paracas Review — Luxury Collection Marriott, Great Base for Nazca Lines & Ballestas Islands

Tue, 18 Apr 2023 00:00:00 +0000

Visited April 2023 • Paracas, Peru

You can watch our full tour of the property and the surrounding sights here:

Overview

Hotel Paracas is a Luxury Collection resort (part of Marriott) set on the desert coast of Paracas, Peru — the launch point for the region’s two biggest attractions: the Nazca Lines and the Ballestas Islands.

The property has, as the video notes, a “luxurious feel throughout” — low-slung modern buildings with pergolas and terraces, set among palm trees and manicured lawns between the desert and the Pacific.

🏊 Pools & Grounds

The pools are the centerpiece of the resort: a large main pool lined with red loungers and white umbrellas, plus a smaller pool beside it, all fringed with palm trees and opening straight onto the beach.

An aerial view shows just how closely the pools sit to the shoreline — you can go from lounger to sand in a few steps.

The grounds are immaculate — palms, flowering bushes, and green lawns between the villa buildings, with rows of loungers and shaded umbrellas around the pool deck.

🏨 Villas

The accommodation is in low-rise villa buildings with wooden pergolas, terraces, and warm lighting — all of it photographed at dusk, when the property looks its best.

🏖️ Beach

The resort sits directly on the beach — but this is not a beach for swimming, and the video is explicit about it.

“Don’t recommend this as a swimming beach.”

The reason is visible in the water itself: jellyfish close to shore.

That said, the beach is still a pleasant place to walk, and there’s a pier nearby — which is how you leave for the Ballestas Islands.

🍽️ Dining

The on-property restaurant is presented as a nice spot for lunch — and the pisco sours are clearly a highlight.

🗺️ Day Trip: The Nazca Lines

The video’s headline recommendation is using the hotel as a base for the Nazca Lines — the ancient geoglyphs etched into the desert.

From the boat trip toward the Ballestas Islands you also pass the hillside geoglyphs of the Paracas coast — a bonus sight on the same excursion.

🦭 Day Trip: The Ballestas Islands

The boat trip to the Ballestas Islands is the other must-do: rocky islands with dramatic arches and cliffs, home to colonies of sea lions.

The ride out is quick and scenic — and given the jellyfish situation on the hotel’s own beach, it’s the best way to get in (and around) the water.

⚖️ Final Verdict

Hotel Paracas is exactly what it looks like: a polished Luxury Collection resort with beautiful pools, manicured grounds, and a great location for the two excursions that define this corner of Peru.

The honest caveat from the video is the beach — don’t come expecting to swim off the hotel’s sand. For everything else — pools, grounds, lunch, and the Nazca Lines and Ballestas Islands on the doorstep — it’s a strong pick.

🎥 Video Review

If you’d like to see the experience visually, check out our full walkthrough on YouTube (linked above).

For more luxury travel reviews, follow along on our journey.

Peru on Visit Karma