Casa Gangotena Hotel Boutique

Casa Gangotena Hotel Boutique

Casa Gangotena occupies a restored mansion on San Francisco Plaza in Quito's Old Town, a few steps from San Francisco Church and San Francisco Park, with Casa del Alabado and the Museo Franciscano close by. The house once belonged to Republican-era presidents and the Gangotena family, and it is now a member of Relais & Châteaux, a distinction none of the other hotels clustered around the plaza can claim. Across three floors, just 31 rooms keep the place quiet and personal rather than processed; each is air conditioned, with a flat-screen television, private bathroom with shower and tub, safe, desk, and the kind of toiletries and robes that suggest attention rather than volume. A rooftop terrace and a garden give guests somewhere to sit above the noise of the historic center, and the restaurant runs a bar, a complimentary buffet breakfast, and 24-hour room service for anyone who would rather not go out again after dark. There is a spa, a library, a sun deck, and a business center with meeting space for the traveler who mixes work with the trip. Wheelchair access extends to the restaurant, and the hotel is set up for families, with a playroom on site; it is not the choice for anyone traveling with a pet, since none are allowed. Airport transfer can be arranged for fifty dollars one way, and the standard fifteen percent Ecuadorian VAT applies at checkout, waived for non-residents with the right documents. Check-in is at two in the afternoon, checkout at noon. What lingers is less the amenity list than the sense of staying somewhere that was a home before it was a hotel. A 31-room mansion on Quito's San Francisco Plaza, minutes from San Francisco Church and the Museo Franciscano, with a rooftop terrace, a daily buffet breakfast, and Relais & Châteaux status few neighbors can match. Wheelchair accessible, family friendly, not for those traveling with pets.