El Palacio de Sal is located on the edge of the world-famous Salar de Uyuni salt flats in Bolivia. As the world’s first luxury hotel made entirely of salt, it is the ideal base for anyone visiting the magical Salar de Uyuni.
CHAPTER 1: THE BIRTH OF THE “SALT PALACE”
To do great things, you need two things: a crazy idea, and the courage to execute it. In 1998, Don Juan Quesada Valda – the man who begins our story – had both. A pioneer in the tourism industry in southern Bolivia, Juan decided that instead of looking for something simple and easy to grasp, he wanted a hotel made of… salt.
From that seemingly strange dream, through countless research and experiments, a unique and strange stop was born -El Palacio de Sal (Salt Palace). To this day, the main theme of this place is still to build a magical reality, where the beauty of everything is connected.
Although Juan is no longer around to see his masterpiece, his strange and beautiful legacy is passed on by his children.
Today, El Palacio de Sal is located on the edge of the world-famous Salar de Uyuni salt flats in Bolivia. Although it has been in operation since the late 90s, it was not until 2004 that the hotel was moved from the heart of the salt flats to the shore. This way, the structure would no longer intrude on the natural formation of the salt flats, nor would it affect the daily lives of those who live and work there. To this day, the square Andean cross that the hotel forms can still be seen from the sky, appearing there as a gift from Bolivian culture to all visitors who visit (or look down from above).
CHAPTER 2: EVERYTHING COMES FROM SALT
With a total of about 10,500 tons of salt, El Palacio de Sal is made up of more than 1 million salt bricks, every detail from the walls, ceiling and interior in the 4,500 m2 building2These are made of salt from the Salar de Uyuni. But because of this difference, the hotel structure is not as stable as other materials. Every rainy season, people have to repair and change new bricks because the salt dissolves. And when winter comes, this place will be reinforced with a layer of cement-like mixture made of salt and water.
And true to its unique name, this hotel is as magnificent as a real palace.
Whether standard or VIP, all rooms are lavishly decorated, with a distinctive dome-shaped roof and all the necessary heating and hot water systems. Guests who want to relax can also visit the hotel spa, enjoy the sauna, steam bath or relax in the saltwater pool…
“At first, many tourists did not believe it, so they tried to… lick the items in the room to make sure they were made of salt,” a tour guide shared. This happened so often that people had to set up a rule.No licking the wallto protect the hotel from deterioration over time.
CHAPTER 3: OUTSIDE THE SALT PALACE
Located in southwest Bolivia, Salar de Uyuni is the world's largest salt flat and is the result of thousands of years of transformation from prehistoric lakes. It covers an area of approximately 12,000 km² and is located at an altitude of approximately 3,700 m above sea level.
Salar de Uyuni is already extremely majestic because it stretches like an endless white field. But more than that, every rainy season, the entire landscape here turns into a giant mirror, when the ground reflects the clear sky, creating a magical and extremely beautiful natural scene. It is so famous that any tourist who comes to Salar de Uyuni and stays at El Palacio de Sal wants to experience the magical feeling likewalking on clouds.
This "endless field" is not only the inspiration for the decorative art on each wall that makes up El Palacio de Sal, for the invaluable construction dedication of all those who made the Salt Palace a reality from the dream of Don Juan Quesada Valda, it is also the origin of every gram of salt used to keep this strange architectural building alive to this day.
