In a previous post I had written about the lodging options I was zeroing in on as I planned my vacation this past summer. This post provides a long overdue review of our apartment rental experience.
Overall Impression:
The apartment we rented via ColonialEcuador was fantastic. It is a stylish, comfortable and incredibly convenient apartment in the heart of Quito's Old Town neighborhood. By the second day of our stay we were ready to trade our Chicago condo for this apartment. The pictures on the rental site give every indication of this being a very nice place, but the actual experience exceeded our expectations.
Highlights / Lowlights:
What was great
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Location - On Benalcazar just south of Olmedo, you are within a three minute walk of Plaza Grande (aka, Plaza de la Independencia) as well as a number of shops, a few restaurants and a grocery store. One place in particular that we liked was the Hotel Patio Andaluz, which has both an original boutique (Folklore Olga Fisch) whose offerings range from very nice souvenirs to serious artwork, and a very pleasant restaurant (El Rincon de Catuna - picture below), which had great food and sincere, gracious service.
Design - The whole of this apartment is greater than the sum of its parts, as the vaulted ceiling and open flow result in a beautiful, open space. And when you consider that the weekly rental price is as little as one half to one third of what you might pay for a moderate to nice hotel, you simply cannot beat this apartment.
That said, some individual features merit specific call outs.
* The dining room has a wall of windows looking onto the building's courtyard and the houses that work their way up the nearby hill. At night the setting makes for a brilliant view. Shamefully this was not something we utilized during our stay, but was probably the top feature driving our condo envy.
* A close second to the dining room was the wall of french doors in the living room and kitchen area that look out onto Benalcazar.
All of the doors open, but one of them opens onto a small balcony that lets you sit with some coffee in the morning as Quito wakes up below you or stand at night con una cerveza, soaking in the later stages of Velada Libertaria, if you happen to be lucky enough to be in Quito during that part of August. Hearing the sounds of musicians and fireworks pour in through those open windows was a tremendous way to get geared up for a night of roaming among the thousands of celebrants.
* Amenities. While it was absolutely a great experience to be immersed in the middle of Old Town Quito, it was also nice to be able to connect with the world back home when we wanted to. In that regard, the DirecTV set up in the loft with BBC and CNN International (the real channel, not the awful loop you get in European hotel rooms) was excellent. On the other side of the loft was a modest desk where the high speed internet cable is accessible.
What wasn't so great:
* The one modest gripe we had with the apartment was about the "queen" size bed, which was actually two full size beds pushed together. This is not an uncommon arrangement in apartment rentals and economy hotels outside the U.S., but in my experience when the room is arranged that way it also includes a brace of some kind to secure the frames or the box springs together. This wasn't such an inconvenience that we bothered to visit the management about it, but it is worth noting as something you may wish to address with them before your stay begins.
Scorecard:
Two Critical Questions:
Would I stay here again?
Absolutely. I don't think I would even bother investigating any new alternatives.
Was it good value?
Again, absolutely. The convenience, space and comfort for the dollar was great value.
Essentials
Bed - Okay - would have been better with a brace.
Bathroom - Very good. Spacious, modern and ...
... with a neat view out of a porthole window in the shower (below).
Kitchen - Excellent. Full range of up-to-date appliances.
Amenities
TV - Very good. DirecTV package is great, the TV itself is a bit small, but plenty good enough for the occasional use it gets on a vacation.
The Internets - Very good. High speed, reliable and set up on a nice desk in the loft, making for a nice place to have some coffee and catch up on news from home.
Dining Room - Beautiful - just wish we actually used it.
Balcony - Great perch for watching a slice of Quito pass you by.
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