La Casona de la Ronda Hotel Boutique & Luxury Apartments

Location: Situated in La Ronda historic district, surrounded by cobblestone streets, quaint shops, and restaurants. Proximity to Plaza de Santo Domingo and colonial architecture.

Beautifully restored, relaxing historic hotel just a short walk to the the main squares of the old town. After days in sandy beach flats in Galapagos, we felt spoiled here with a huge room, double bathroom sinks, rain shower, robe and slippers, and umbrella etc. FYI: although we booked Rm 23 - one of their spacious rooms on the top floor (also note there's only stairs - but they have porters) - the room didn't have a real window view which we greatly missed. But we were close to the spiral staircase up to the stunning Mirador Lounge with its huge window. My husband would go up there to read at the end of the day. Everything was comfortable and quiet - for the most part. This is not hotel's fault but a few adults - think they were organized groups - were quite loud late at night and very early in the morning - like 4am. The sound travels straight up the open courtyard to the rooms. The hotel has signs posting quiet hours, so I wished the staff had enforced it. We also didn't realize we were missing a few towels the first few days. But those were minor - we loved the daily complimentary afternoon/evening tea and snack, and they sometimes also had chocolate tasting demonstrations in the atrium in late afternoon. The staff were helpful calling taxis (sometimes there is a wait, esp on weekends so give enough time) and they have security guards walk you to the car. Note - ubers and cars without tourism licenses will have trouble accessing so you may have to walk out a bit for dropoff or pickup. But staff are always willing to help with this. I tried to pick a neighborhood that was walkable and this was - the colonial streets are filled with touristy vendors, merchants, little shops, bars, clubs and restaurants - saw lots offering the local tasty canelazos drink and gigantic (gigante) empanadas. It is a bit empty on weeknights but the tourism police have an office down the street so it didn't feel overly dangerous when we walked around a bit at night. Weekends are much more busy. I didn't try the hotel restaurant but it looked cute. There's a well known restaurant right next door - Casa los Geranios - must try the local potato stew soup that's served over a fire and the unique fig cheesecake dessert!

We had a wonderful stay. The hotel was clean, quiet, and comfortable and in a great location- it was easy to get to the main center area of town. The staff was very kind and accommodating and the food was fabulous. We appreciated being able to get a room with a king bed that attached to a room with two single beds for our kids. We will come back again if we’re ever in Quito.