Advantages: Great food, amazing views Disadvantages: chaotic organisation, expensive
The Secret garden is one of the most popular hostels in Quito and can be found in the San Blas area of the city just beside the old town and a half hour walk from the mariscal tourist area.
The hostel is in a beautiful old style colonial house and on entering the hostel it is bright and airy with a small pond and garden. The reception is on the 4th floor so a long walk up at Quito's altitude (2850m). The hostel has a small computer room and common area and a roof terrace with reception, a bar and tables for breakfast and dinner.
The rooms themselves are fairly mediocre and can vary in quality. The dorms have between 4 and 7 beds and there are 2 twin rooms and about 6 doubles, one of which is en suite. The front half of the house was the original hostel and the rooms are far more welcoming, often painted bright colours and the bathrooms ...
Advantages: Beautiful setting, churches and Spanish colonial architecture Disadvantages: Traffic noise and fumes, some street crime
We happened upon the Plaza de la Fundación rather by accident, because it does not feature prominently in the guide books. Fortunately, my wife and I had only just started out on our walk around the old town of Quito, and it helped us orient ourselves, both historically and geographically.
As its name implies, the Plaza de la Fundación was where the original Spanish colony was founded. An Inca city had stood on the site, but was hastily demolished by its inhabitants, a tribe who called themselves the Quitu, to prevent it falling intact into the hands of the conquerors. Not long before, the last Inca emperor Atahualpa had been perfidiously executed, despite a vast ransom having been paid for his release, thus starting an ignoble tradition that some Latin American kidnappers persist in upholding to this day. The Quitu must have ...
torr 06.07.2008 (12.07.2008)
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Ciao members have rated this review on average: exceptional Review of Quito
Advantages: pleasant climate, lots to see, bustling with local activity Disadvantages: usual big city issues - traffic, smog, beggars, street vendors
Quito is the capital of Ecuador and stands almost 3,000 metres high on a plateau nestled among the Andes mountain range. It is just 22 km south of the Equator and yet, because of its height, it benefits from a warm eternal spring-like climate. It is a large and sprawling urban mass that is split into the two distinct areas of old city and new city. This produces a place of startling contrasts – a strange mixture of old colonial and new contemporary architecture, streets populated equally with wealthy businessmen and poor beggars, noisy bustling markets separated by quiet parks and streets, upmarket fashion and souvenir shops contrasting with impoverished street stalls. There are many attractions here including the huge Virgin of Quito who looks down over the city from her lofty position on Panecillo Hill. The views from here are ...
stuartmelvin 21.03.2001
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Ciao members have rated this review on average: very helpful Review of Quito
