The Inhotim Institute, located in Brumadinho, Minas Gerais, is expected to launch an on site hotel next year. The hotel’s inauguration will mark phase one of the megaproject. It involves building a number of resorts linked to the botanical garden and the art museum.
Phase one of the hotel’s construction resumed last year after it had stagnated for almost a decade since there was a lack of finance. It is said that the hotel will be launched in three phases. Phase one of the project will be inaugurated in late 2024 with the completion of a 44 room hotel. Due to be launched in 2029, it will be the second phase of the project. This involves the construction of a separate hotel that will have 150 rooms. Phase three will involve the construction of an offsite hotel, also boasting 150 rooms, less than a kilometer away from Inhotim.
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Since the departure of Bernardo Paz, who is a mining tycoon and a Brazilian art collector that founded Inhotim in 2004 to store his personal collection, it is said that it is such a pivotal moment that the project has regained momentum. The institution is currently working on restructuring and expanding itself.
Why legal action was taken against Bernardo Paz
Paz was later accused of making a nearly $100m transfer of donations that were meant for Inhotim to his personal steel and mining companies. As a result, the organization was embroiled in legal allegations against him.
In 2017, the tycoon was charged with money laundering, although he was acquitted in 2020. Since then, his involvement with the institution has been minimized gradually.
Paz had previously funded 70% of Inhotim’s operational budget. He donated Inhotim’s grounds, 330 artworks, pavilions, and galleries to the institution between 2021 and 2022.
The hotel’s ownership
Until this year, Paz had owned the hotel that had been partially built before the ownership was transferred to Clara Resorts. Clara Resorts is an eco-resort group based in Sao Paulo. Currently, he doesn’t hold any stake in the hotels that are soon to be established.
There was the establishment of a board of trustees, which consists of 30 members. The board is involved in the acquisition of the new works of art as well as the development of the new onsite pavilions. It is said that the number of companies sponsoring Inhotim has risen from 18-35.
The new hotels, plus the institution’s other offerings, are expected to impact the region’s tourism as well as benefit the communities around. The region is said to be currently underdeveloped and underprivileged. Most of the region’s residents work in mining or agriculture.
