4 days ago
- Business
- Wall Street Journal
The 76-Year-Old Chilean Ski Lodge That Resisted the Temptations of Big Business
In 1961, Henry Purcell, a graduate of Cornell University's hospitality school, received a call from his uncle Bob. Bob Purcell had purchased a ski area in the Chilean Andes on a whim and he needed someone to run it. Henry quit his job at Hilton and headed south. Upon arrival, he found the 123-room Hotel Portillo unoccupied, save for one caretaker and his pet sheep, Lumumba.
First opened in 1949 by the Chilean government, the Hotel Portillo and its ski area had quickly unraveled under state management. In 1961, when Bob and fellow New York-based investor, Dick Aldrich, bought the property, they knew they'd be starting from scratch. Even the silverware was missing, taken in lieu of missed paychecks by disgruntled employees. When Henry arrived, he revamped the interior, painted the exterior a bright sunshine yellow and began to get the word out. (Lumumba the sheep was moved into a pen outside the building.)
