How narcotics king Pablo Escobar’s summer house found new life as a luxury resort
The accommodation has nine rooms in the main house and another 26 in other parts of the property. It has been decorated with works of contemporary art from Malca’s own collection.Claus Brechenmacher & Reiner Baumann (Casa Malca)The feared drug trafficker, who founded the Medellín drug cartel, had a weakness for large mansions. After his death in December 1993, the house was left uninhabited for a decade. Malca fell in love with Tulum and decided to acquire it in 2012. The villa has a number of swimming pools and private access to the beach.Claus Brechenmacher & Reiner Baumann (Casa Malca)Spending the night in one of the spacious and luxurious rooms of this hotel will cost you at least €450. Escobar began his career in crime by stealing gravestones and came to be one of the world’s wealthiest men. At one time he held a seat in the Colombian parliament and dreamed of being president, but he was constantly surrounded by an army of hitmen. When he surrendered himself to Colombian authorities, he was allowed to build his own prison called La Catedral. There, he lived luxuriously for over a year and continued to operate his criminal operation.Claus Brechenmacher & Reiner Baumann (Casa Malca)The property, originally built by Escobar in the 1980s, still preserves many vestiges from his life as a criminal, including a tunnel that connects the entire enclosure and a special roof for conducting private surveillance.Claus Brechenmacher & Reiner Baumann (Casa Malca)The mansion was one of the first properties that Escobar acquired in Mexico. With many of its original details still preserved, it is currently one of the most exclusive resorts in the Caribbean.Claus Brechenmacher & Reiner Baumann (Casa Malca)Escobar died just one day after his 44th birthday. He was born in Envigado, a small town in Columbia to the southeast of Medellín. His life was tied to images of terror: car bombs, assassinations of politicians, airplane explosions, murdered children as young as 11 years old, widows and orphans.Claus Brechenmacher & Reiner Baumann (Casa Malca)But for others, the drug lord was an idol. He built an entire neighborhood in Medellín for people who had previously been living around a garbage dump. He also built soccer fields in the slums in the mountainous areas that surround the city. Impoverished residents began to love him and would refer to him as Don Pablo.Claus Brechenmacher & Reiner Baumann (Casa Malca)El Patrón (The Boss), El Capo (The Drug Lord), El Zar de la Cocaína (The Czar of Cocaine)... These nicknames and many others were ascribed to Escobar, who found tranquility and peace in his summer home, which is now called Casa Malca.Claus Brechenmacher & Reiner Baumann (Casa Malca)Tulum was a walled city from Mayan civilization in the State of Quintana Roo, in the southeast of Mexico on the coast of the Caribbean. It is currently a large attraction in the Riviera Maya tourist center.Claus Brechenmacher & Reiner Baumann (Casa Malca)All of the rooms have views of the sea and the property’s spectacular gardens. Some suites are as big as 70 square meters.Claus Brechenmacher & Reiner Baumann (Casa Malca)Lio Malca, a patron of the arts from New York and the owner of the hotel, wanted to give it a touch of his own style with works of contemporary art. “A home for thinkers and dreamers who believe in the liberating powers of creativity and self-discovery,” reads the homepage of its website.Claus Brechenmacher & Reiner Baumann (Casa Malca)The narcotics trafficker was shot down after managing to evade the security forces: 3,000 elite soldiers had been hunting him down for months.Claus Brechenmacher & Reiner Baumann (Casa Malca)In this image, the entrance of the mansion can be seen, surrounded by luxurious gardens.Claus Brechenmacher & Reiner Baumann (Casa Malca)Lio Malca, of Colombian origin like Escobar, discovered the property while visiting the Yucatan Peninsula, near the Mayan ruins of Tulum.Claus Brechenmacher & Reiner Baumann (Casa Malca)The hotel at Casa Malca, which boasts five-stars, opened its doors in 2015.Claus Brechenmacher & Reiner Baumann (Casa Malca)
