13 Best Hotels in The Central Highlands, Ecuador

It's not easy to get here, but you'll find this place—an ecohostel—is one of the nicest in Ecuador. Prices include vegetarian dinners, farm-fresh breakfasts, tea and coffee all day, purified drinking water, hiking maps, and hot showers. Most rooms have a woodstove fireplace. Dinner is family style. Also available are lunches, home-baked desserts, Chilean wines, cold beer, a full bar, and European-style cheeses. Perched on a hillside outside the village of Chugchilan in Cotopaxi Province, this hostel is five hours southwest of Quito. You can get here by bus, jeep, or taxi. The American owners, Andres Hammerman and Michelle Kirby, will help you make arrangements.

Reminiscent of a mountain lodge, this place is among the most practical accommodations in the Central Highlands. Each of the clean, comfortable rooms is named after a different mountain peak; several rooms overlook the surrounding hills. Horses, stabled on-site, are available for day treks. The owner, mountaineer Marco Cruz, knows the best hikes in the region.

This place has been inhabited for more than five centuries—it began as an Inca fortress and was transformed into an Augustinian monastery after the Spanish conquest. It now belongs to an Ecuadoran family. Two original Inca structures are used as a chapel and a dining room. The hotel is a few miles from Parque Nacional Cotopaxi, where you have access to horseback riding, trout fishing, mountain biking, and trekking.

This century-old house, with its fern-filled central courtyard, is conveniently located in the middle of town. Its elegant yet homey restaurant, around the corner from the hotel, is first-rate.

This place just outside Riobamba welcomes you back to your spacious room with a crackling fire in the hearth. When there are enough guests, the hotel puts on a show with folk music and dancing before dinner. The owner is one of the most famous mountain climbers in Ecuador.

Owned by the same family for four generations, this log house B&B has a panoramic view of the mountains. Fresh flowers brighten the rooms, which are decorated with antiques. All rooms have private baths. The gracious owners will prepare meals and arrange day hikes for you to Volcán Cotopaxi. The hostería is a half hour from the entrance to Parque Nacional Cotopaxi, near the small village of Machachi.

This quartet of three-room bungalows is nestled on a lush hillside at the edge of town. Each room has several beds and a small bath. Many have views of the town. At the foot of the hill are a swimming pool, a sauna, and a lovely little restaurant.

After establishing a reputation as one of this town's best restaurants, this place expanded to include inexpensive rooms. All have hardwood floors, white stucco walls, and balconies. Many are warmed by wood-burning fireplaces. The restaurant serves French cuisine, with a menu that includes crepes, ratatouille, and delicious fondues.

Perched high over Baños on the slopes of Volcán Tungurahua, Swiss-run Luna Runtún combines colonial-style architecture with the attention to detail you would expect from a European resort. On your pillow will be fresh flowers carefully selected from the gardens outside. Hike along a route used by rum smugglers in the 1920s, ride horses through the nearby countryside, or join a trip to the hot springs.

In an Andean valley 100 km (61 mi) south of Quito, right at the stone gate to the colorful town of Salcedo, is this unexpectedly elegant hostel. Comfortable rooms filled with antiques, a shady pool, and three restaurants—one with seating in a garden—are the perfect antidote for the stresses of modern life. While you're here, explore Salcedo's market.

This family-oriented hotel across the street from the municipal baths has large cabañas behind the pool and spacious rooms with balconies overlooking the nearby Waterfall of the Virgin. From the second-floor restaurant you'll also get nice views.

This ranch, set 9,000 feet above sea level, is surrounded by natural hot springs. The springs line the Cinnamon Trail, the route taken by Francisco de Orellana in 1542 when he crossed the Andes in search of spices and wound up discovering the Amazon. All rooms have private baths and breathtaking mountain views. Individual cabins scattered around the grounds offer a little more privacy. Walk or ride horses through the rain forest, and bring binoculars to observe the varied species of birds.

Ecotourism is the focus at this rustic lodge in the foothills of Rumiñahui Volcano that acquaints you with the chagra (Andean cowboy) lifestyle. Most rooms are tiny nooks with straw ceilings and burlap walls and are only big enough to hold two cotlike single beds. Suites have fireplaces and double beds. The hacienda has horses and conducts riding, biking, hiking, trekking, and climbing trips that last from a few hours to seven days. Cotopaxi National Park is 3 miles away.