[1] It was inaugurated in 1947 by the Swiss businessman Domingo Bezzola in an eight-story building that was originally built to be the headquarters of the Lima Bar Association [es].

The intention was to compete with the Gran Hotel Bolívar, located a few blocks away in the Plaza San Martín.

Among its facilities were the Pancho Fierro restaurant, the Don Pepe bar, its Convention Centre, the Grill La Balsa and its Sky Room, inaugurated on August 1, 1960.

In those years, the hotel hosted many celebrities such as María Félix, Charles Aznavour, John Wayne, Nat King Cole, Debbie Reynolds, Muhammad Ali and Pelé.

In the 1970s, fishing businessman Luis Banchero Rossi, considered the richest man in Peru at that time, rented the entire 19th floor where he lived and set up his headquarters.