Hacienda de Molinos

 Charming hotel with history

The Calchaquí Valleys are distinguished by their stunning landscapes and centuries-old towns. Molinos is undoubtedly one of the most charming.

Quiet cobblestone streets, thick adobe walls, doors and windows painted in an intense green color characterize it. Every once in a while, a street dog crosses the road demonstrating with its brave bark the lordship of the place. If you are lucky, maybe a neighbor will show up too, and he will not hesitate to nod his head in greeting to the visitor. The Calchaquí Valleys are also that: the boundless kindness of its people.

Hacienda de Molinos, the boutique hotel that operates in the 18th century manor house, residence of the last royalist governor of the Intendencia de Salta del Tucumán, is located in this environment.

Tradition has it that its perfect enclave, right in front of the San Pedro Nolasco church, allowed the landowner to listen to Sunday mass from the comfort of his quarters, from the room that can be reached from the stairs right next to the entrance.

The remains of Don Nicolás Severo de Isasmendi y Echalar rest there, in the picturesque sanctuary.

The rooms -comfortable and immaculate- are arranged around two large patios of authentic colonial style. For summer days, the swimming pool offers an extraordinary view of the Luracatao River and, in the distance, the Nevado de Cachi. Its solarium invites you to relax and enjoy the birds singing as they come and go from tree to tree.

That Saturday we arrived in the afternoon, just in time to relax before dinner, where we enjoyed the usual flavors (empanadas, humitas and tamales) accompanied by a red wine from the select wine list, all produced by Molinos, offered by its restaurant; the perfect combination to continue with a memorable rest in the quiet environment. ... although the driver and valet of @tripticity_ assured, the next morning, to have experienced some situation in the night to which he did not hesitate to incriminate the former master of the hacienda. Nothing to worry or fear, after all.

We had breakfast under the shade of the gigantic molle tree in the main lot. It was there that we discovered that it was not centenary as we had imagined in each of our previous visits to the Hacienda, and as several articles in the national media claim, but that it was actually planted when it was refurbished in the early 1980s.

Then we took a walk through the Interpretation Center that operates in what was once the house of Indalecio Gómez, a key figure in Argentine history who is little recognized today. Local products are also exhibited there thanks to the network of Artisan Markets, which served as a good prelude to continue our trip to Seclantás and El Colte on the Artisan Road to complete the vallista experience.