Wyndham Garden Quito

Casa Gangotena is Quito's premier boutique and the only Relais & Châteaux in the capital — a restored 1920s mansion on the corner of Plaza San Francisco in the UNESCO Old Town, on the doorstep of the great church and convent. Thirty-one Art Deco rooms carry marble baths and soundproofing, the best facing the plaza and the church towers. A roof terrace looks over the bell towers, the Panecillo and Pichincha, a walled palm garden centres on an original fountain, and the kitchen plates Ecuadorian cocina mestiza. It pairs naturally with Mashpi and a Galápagos hotel in one Relais & Châteaux itinerary.

Hotel Plaza Grande sits on Plaza de la Independencia, Quito's main civic square, in the restored home of a 16th-century founder of the city — later the 1943 Majestic Hotel. Just 15 opulent all-suite rooms carry dark wood, marble baths with hydromassage tubs, separate lounges and complimentary wine, three with balconies right over the plaza facing the Presidential Palace and Cathedral. La Belle Époque plates French fusion with live opera, Café Plaza Grande serves Ecuadorian classics, and an exposed-brick wine cellar hosts flamenco — with moonlight horse-drawn carriage tours from the door.

Illa Experience is an intimate 10-room design boutique in San Marcos, Quito's oldest bohemian quarter — a renovated colonial manor where each of three floors evokes a different era, Colonial to Contemporary. Every room is unique, with local art, church-sourced antiques, heated floors and big marble tubs. Restaurant Inés runs up to a 13-course Ecuadorian tasting menu, a rooftop bar looks over the Old Town and the Panecillo, and a guests-only spa and a courtyard reflecting pool that mirrors the stars complete it — named Best Luxury Hotel in South America in 2023, a short stroll from the main plazas.