Quito: No Longer Just Stopover Country
Travel Blog • Jim Benning • 05.21.07 | 3:42 PM ET
Photo by For years now, many travelers have stopped in Quito only briefly while on the way to the Amazon or Galapagos Islands, due in part to concerns over crime, writes Danny Palmerlee in the San Francisco Chronicle. But thanks to a $200 million restoration project in the city’s historic center, crime is down, beauty is up and, according to Palmerlee, Ecuador’s capital is now worth a visit in its own right: “Architects and restoration crews have completed more than 200 separate works, including the city’s cathedral; three historic theaters; the narrow, postcard-perfect street known as ‘La Ronda’; plazas; monasteries; churches; and entire blocks of colonial homes whose wooden balconies make Quito’s streets so picturesque.”
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Plaza lovers will find something in Quito: Palmerlee raves about the old town’s central plaza, Plaza Grande, as well as the quieter Plaza San Francisco.
And for those who’d like to sleep in a hotel on a plaza, Palmerlee notes that the Hotel Plaza Grande is “likely the most luxurious hotel in Quito.”
I’ve stayed in hotels on plazas in Latin America and loved it, but without exception I’ve found rooms in the back of the hotel—well away from the plaza—the quietest and best for sleeping.
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Jim Benning is the editor and co-founder of World Hum.
BTW 10.12.07 | 1:16 PM ET
It’s true, Equador’s a lot safer now - while 4 years ago, you were advised by hotels that you shouldn’t walk a single block at night in the Mariscal, now it’s fine to do so apparently.
Plaza Grande is a great hotel, but the Ecuadoreans love to demonstrate and go on marches - normally there’s a big one once a month or so, and it cumulates right outside the hotels door. So there’s about a 1 in 30 chance that if you’re staying at the hotel, there will be a massive demonstation right outside your window.