Avis : Hotel Huasi Continental

Is this a 3 star hotel? No. But I had a lovely stay and the location is excellent. The room rate includes breakfast and is very inexpensive. But more importantly, it was clean, safe, and within walking distance of so many things! I also arranged for my airport transfers directly with the hotel and glad I did. It was only about $5 more than taking Uber and so worth it since Uber can be unreliable at times (unavailability/last minute cancellations), if you have a late night/early morning pick-up. The hotel itself and the rooms are definitely dated, but I found the hotel charming and reminiscent of some riads in Morocco. The Wi-Fi connection was excellent, I never had any connectivity issues. The tv is not great, and only a few channels even came in, but I wasn't there to stay in my room and watch tv anyway :) I had forgotten my hairdryer and the staff quickly brought one to my room for me - service was GREAT at all times! Breakfast is a simple nice continental breakfast of bread, jam, sliced fresh fruit, coffee and a fabulous fresh fruit smoothie. They also ask if you'd like huevos, which they prepare by request. Although you can eat inside the rooftop "cafeteria" I sat outside on the terrace to enjoy fresh air and view of the Virgen de El Panecillo. Although it is helpful if you speak at least basic Spanish, the staff does not speak English, I cannot say enough positive things about the entire staff. Super friendly, always willing to help any way they can, and they even bought new pillows for the room I was in after I showed them the condition of the ones that were in my room (imagine flattened rocks in a pillow case with some cotton balls). For times where my limited Spanish was not good enough, the Google Translate app was a perfect quick solution. They do keep the front door locked whenever they need to step away from the front desk, but all you have to do is ring the bell and someone lets you in within a minute or two. One thing that can be annoying was somebody's car alarm kept going off one night and another it sounded like someone working on their car in the middle of the night. The hotel offers secured parking but unfortunately the garage was right below my room. For room complaints, the bed isn't the most comfortable, but it was fine. Cosmetically, the room could use a make-over, but my room and linens were kept very clean at all times. At night the area around the hotel can be sketchy beyond the doors of the hotel, but that holds true for the streets of Quito in general it seems regardless of what neighborhood you're in. I was there during Carnival, so that could have affected things as well. I would recommend this hotel for anyone looking for an inexpensive, clean, safe hotel with a friendly and helpful staff, that is also in an excellent location within walking distance of many points of interest.