Where to stay

This is not a directory. It is a handful of real properties that have been part of how people stay in Ecuador for years. We are not quoting rates, and we are not printing street addresses. Check that a house is open before you fall in love with a photograph.

Quito and Cuenca

In the old town of Quito, Casa Gangotena on Plaza de San Francisco and Hotel Plaza Grande on the main square are the grand colonial stays. Illa Experience is the smaller design hotel people name when they want the center without a palace.

In Cuenca, Mansión Alcázar and Hotel Santa Lucía are historic houses in the center, the sort of building the city is made of. Apartments, not hotels, are what most people use if the month turns into a lease.

Islands, forest, river

On the Galápagos, the choice is a land base or a cruise. Finch Bay, across the water from Puerto Ayora on Santa Cruz, is a known land hotel. A licensed boat is the other model. Pick the style before the cabin.

Mashpi Lodge, in the cloud forest northwest of Quito, is the famous version of a forest hotel: a destination in itself, not a bed near Mindo.

On the Napo, Sacha Lodge and the Napo Wildlife Center are established Amazon lodges. The Amazon chapter explains why a lodge, rather than a city hotel, is the way that trip works.

The coast, in a sentence

Montañita is lively. The Machalilla side, around Puerto López and Los Frailes, is quieter. Choose the volume you want at night, then look for a room. A booking site’s homepage is a reasonable place to begin a hotel search. It is the wrong tool for a year-long rental.