Hostería PapaGayo
Experiences in and around the Hostería PapaGayo. When you arrive to the Hostería PapaGayo, it feels like you are in another world. It is located 45min south of Quito in the Avenue of the Volcanoes, so it is the perfect starting point for the tours of Gulliver in the mountains or just to enjoy the silence and the peace. You can see animals all over the place.
Furthermore the small Hacienda itself is a spectacular building. It covers more than 180 years of history and Simón Bólivar met his love there. Manuela Sáenz. Simón Bólivar played a leading role in the independency of the Spanish Empire. As you walk through the entrance door, you can still feel the history.
The guests should feel welcomed and homelike. One of the receptionists, called Mayra said: “I really like working here because the natural surroundings are perfect and I love meeting people from all over the world. Therefore my work never gets boring.” If you spend some time there, you will see, that the team seems to be a family. The cleaning lady, Vivienna, said that the persons here are like her brothers and sisters.
Furthermore, the team is really young, so they are willing to learn new languages and like getting to know new customers. Renato, who is a waiter, barkeeper and also a contact person for the clients, said that the hacienda is like a language school, since he meets so many different people, with different languages and also different characters. He mentioned: “Besides the great landscape, this is the best part of my job.” You can see, how much every single one of this team likes his or her job.
If you decide to stay a few nights in Hostería PapaGayo, you will have the chance to do a lot of interesting activities, like horsebackriding, biking, climbing the mountains or just discovering the surroundings. Whatever you wish to choose, it will be an experience. Besides that, the Hostería offers a Spa-program and a Jacuzzi, for those who just wish to relax or to recover from the tours. The restaurant, which still has the charm of the old hacienda, provides excellent Ecuadorian cuisine and invites for a longer stay.The cooks are extraordinary and everyone will find something on the menu. Every morning they have fresh milk from their own cow, of which they also make some homemade cheese.
While spending a day in PapaGayo, I was able to accompany Christina, who works in the administration, to see the rooms, which are all named after things and persons from this history. Most of the rooms contain a chimenea, in case it gets cold at night. This happens in the winter more often, because the Hacienda is located on 3200m. While walking around on the farmyard, I met Christian, who works as an allrounder and he was so nice to show me the area of PapaGayo. We went to a closed small panel, where I could see horses, lamas, an alpaca and a cow. In addition, he explained me the fruits and showed me the big potato field, where they are growing their own potatoes. At this point, you can see the Illinzas Norte and Sur and a lot more Volcanoes. When I visited the Hostería PapaGayo for this first time, everyone wanted to get to know me and they showed me the warmth of this place. It was a unique experience.
