Casa Palopó, Lake Atitlan’s premiere luxury boutique hotel, welcomes back Mario André Miralles as Executive Chef of the hotel’s in-house restaurant – 6.8 Palopó. In his role, Chef Miralles will be in charge of the administrative decisions for the restaurant and the hotel’s F&B program, as well as the creation of new recipes and concept for the menus at 6.8 Palopó and the hotel’s events program.
Chef Miralles began his career at Casa Palopó under the ownership of Billy Bickford, who turned the property into a boutique hotel back in 2000. It was during his time at Casa Palopó that Chef Miralles began perfecting the art of personalization, as would be expected at a nine-bedroom hotel, mastering specific dietary needs and catering to palates for every individual’s own preference — among them, Guatemalan actor Oscar Isaac, American actors Charlize Theron and Stuart Townsend, and Grammy Award winner Emilio Estefan. Additional experience includes Collaborating Chef under the world-renowned Ferrán Adria and official catering chef for a national rum distributor.
Eager to expand on his international experience, Chef Miralles was most-recently in Nicaragua, where he was Executive Chef at Hotel Camino Real in Managua. He was previously at Finca Filadelfia Coffee Resort & Tours, located in the Guatemalan city of Antigua.
“We are very happy to welcome back Chef Miralles, and are very confident that he will take our hotel’s F&B program to new heights,” says Casa Palopó owner Claudia Bosch. “His knowledge of international technique and understanding of the local region, plus creativity and attention to detail, will ensure an upscale and authentic fine dining experience for our guests and locals alike.”
Casa Palopó is perched on the shore of Lake Atitlán in the Guatemalan highlands, offering an exclusive, high-end getaway for sophisticated travelers who value a rich dose of culture with their vacation experience. Guests of the boutique hotel’s in-house restaurant, 6.8 Palopó, can enjoy an al fresco dining experience on the veranda from where they can admire small boats making their way across the lake, and in the evenings, sit quietly alongside colorful candelabras and twinkling lights from Mayan towns that line the shore.
Casa Palopó is the first hotel in Guatemala to become an official member of the esteemed Relais & Châteaux – an exclusive collection of the finest luxury hotels and gourmet restaurants around the world that set the standard for excellence in hospitality.
