Guests of Casa
Gangotena
are treated to
complimentary
high tea
Spacious, light
filled rooms at Casa
Gangotena have
luxe beds and, in
some cases, original
frescoes
Inside Casa Gangotena,
The Best Hotel in Ecuador
Guests checking into Casa
Gangotena in Quito, Ecuador are
welcomed with a glass of jugo de
vida, the juice of life. It’s made with
20 different herbs and even after an
international flight and the rigors of
landing in a city at more than 9,000
feet, the juice is refreshing enough
to bring you back to life.
Opened in 2011, the hotel is the
result of a five-year renovation which
transformed the Art Nouveau and Art
Deco home of the Gangotena family
into the best hotel in Ecuador, full of
original details including pressed tin
ceilings, frescoes in some rooms and a
jaw- dropping marble spiral staircase.
The 31 rooms at Casa Gangotena
(20 luxury rooms, eight plaza view
rooms, two junior suites and one full
suite) follow three color schemes–
turquoise, red and blue and brown–
and average 377 square feet (35
square meters) in size. Rooms 102
and 212 have original restored
16
frescoes. Plaza view rooms are also
coveted for their views of the
picturesque and storied Plaza San
Francisco on which the hotel sits.
Legend has it that an indigenous man
named Cantuña sold his soul to the
devil (then ingeniously cheated him
out of it) in order to get the large
and elaborate stone niches built
beneath the San Francisco church
that anchors the plaza. As Quito
grew, the San Francisco plaza became
the site of a crowded and sketchy
marketplace before being rejuvenated
as part of an overall reclamation of
Quito’s historic center which resulted
in the area being named a UNESCO
World Heritage Site in 1978.
Travel Tip: The San Francisco church
is only open to visitors during early
morning mass on Tuesdays from 7
a.m. to 8 a.m. And you definitely
want to get a look inside this
amazing church. Completed by
the Spanish in 1680 after more
than 150 years of construction, the
San Francisco church saves all its