2 Best Hotels in Quito, Ecuador

This place's name sounds like that of a restaurant—and, indeed, the Sunday brunches are a Quito institution—but it is better known as one of Ecuador's premier boutique lodgings. The brilliant bougainvillea over the front gate lets you know that this colonial-style hotel—formerly the Center for Arts and Culture of the French Embassy—is something special. The wood-beamed lobby glows when there's a fire in the stone-trim hearth. A mezzanine above leads to the inn's comfortable guest rooms (some warmed by fireplaces). A popular café off the lobby serves breakfast and lunch. All rooms here are no-smoking.

It's a less costly alternative to the Hotel Plaza Grande down the street, but a stay here also lets you lodge in the Old City. Rooms in this four-centuries-old mansion are organized around two interior courtyards. All have wood floors, large desks, and flat-screen TVs. Each suite is split-level, with a bedroom and sitting room. Some of the units have an unusual layout i, where bedrooms are on the lower entry level and baths are on the upper level.