When it comes to foodie capitals, Quito may not be up there with Lima and Mexico City, but it is coming on strong. Chefs from Ecuador are finding ways to update the traditional recipes of the Andes and are making good use of their abundant riches sprouting up from the ground and on trees. On my last trip to Quito, I wanted to dig a little deeper, so I went on a gastronomy walking tour with one of the chefs from Casa Gangotena, the luxury hotel facing Plaza San Francisco.

Casa Gangotena offers their guests a walking gastronomy tour to get a feel for what goes into typical local dishes and then see how they end up on the plate. A morning walk with one of the hotel restaurant’s chefs goes the opposite direction of the tourist district and visits local shops and markets where the locals go to do their shopping. Those interested in the whole process can go back afterwards and help cook lunch. Or you can do what I did and just show up for meal time later.

If you browse tours of Ecuador, you see a lot of food-focused hacienda tours and tours that are all about the food, often with a chocolate, cheese, or coffee angle. Ecuador is a real cornucopia of food. With rich volcanic soil, few desert areas, and an altitude that goes from sea level to snowy summits, it’s a good spot for growing most anything. (Except wine grapes, apparently. I’ve yet to find a decent wine from anywhere north of Peru.)

The bounty is on display when you walk to the markets of Old Quito. We passed one shop selling nothing but bananas, though chef Andres confirmed what I’d heard from another chef: bananas are considered peasant food in Ecuador, so the chefs won’t touch them for their desserts. The other berries and fruits we saw stacked elsewhere are a different story, from apples to blackberries to tropical fruits. This being the region where potatoes originated, you see a dozen kinds in the market stalls.

We also stopped by an herb shop where some sold are used for cooking, others for fixing whatever ails you. People visit these shops like they would a pharmacist, asking what to throw in an infusion to deal with stomach pains, a headache, or a lack of virility. Down the block from the market is a sort of in-town mill, Molinos de San Martín. The machine in the back room grinds grains into flour and sells it in bulk, from whole wheat flour to blue corn meal to quinoa flour. They also sell the traditional blocks of gooey raw sugar used in many households.

At the end, we sampled sweets from two sugar shops. Colaciones de la Cruz Verde, pictured above, makes one single kind of traditional candy, cooked in a swinging giant bowl over a charcoal embers. The other was a show selling all kinds of candy-coated treats, from nuts to popcorn to fava beans. They were so good I ended up returning there a few days later for more.

In the afternoon we sat down to a multi-course lunch, starting with an array of traditional local finger foods, salsas, and cheese dressed up by Gangotena’s chefs. Then we graduated to soup and a delicious giant prawn main course. “We fly in the seafood, Andres explained earlier, and the meat we contract directly through farms we trust. What we buy locally is mostly produce and spices.”)

Each bite of the meal made a little more sense after the morning’s tour and the background information from the chef. If you have some time in Quito to learn more about what you’re eating, this low-key walking tour is a great way to get below the surface of historic Quito—and what’s on your plate.

There’s a charge for this tour, but it’s minimal. To make a reservation, contact Casa Gangotena in Quito.

You don’t see a whole lot of Bentley cars cruising the streets of Mexico, Peru, Argentina, or Chile. If you stay at a St. Regis or Starwood Luxury Collection hotel in one of those countries though, you could be seeing one—from the inside.

St. Regis and Luxury Collection hotels around the world have been transitioning their fleet of in-house vehicles for guests to luxurious Bentley models, such as The Continental Flying Spur. So for your arranged airport pickup or sightseeing drive, you’ll be surrounded by elegance and the smell of fine leather.

If you dig around and find the right package, or get your travel specialist to, you might get this included in the rate for booking a suite or enough days. If not, how much does it cost? Well you know what they say: if you have to ask…

The photo at the top is from the St. Regis Mexico City. Their other hotel there is in Punta Mita, near Puerto Vallarta.

Luxury Collection hotels are located in Lima, the Sacred Valley, and Paracas in Peru; Santiago and Villarica in Chile, and Buenos Aires in Argentina. They also have five gorgeous hacienda hotels in Mexico, all located around Merida and Campeche in the Yucatan.

Book direct with St. Regis or direct with Starwood Luxury Collection.

This whole Maya 2012 thing could be the greatest marketing coup ever built around a predicted end of the world. Mexico, Belize, and Guatemala are getting a great swell of publicity and visitors. We know deep down that there’s a 99.9 percent chance we’ll all scoot into 2013 just fine, but there’s that nagging little bit of doubt because, unlike religious nutjobs making these predictions all the time, we kind of trust the Mayans. They figured out a lot of science, match, and astronomy before anyone else.

Maroma Resort & Spa, on the Riviera Maya coast of Mexico, wants you to forget all that and relax. Appreciate the culture and history yes, but relax. They’re offering up a special menu of experiences through the rest of the year.

Four Elements Dinner – Created using 100% traditional Mayan culinary techniques and ingredients, this four course meal is served under the stars and on the beach in front of Maroma Resort & Spa’s Temazcal, a sacred and important area according to Maya culture. You eat ceviche (water), tamales (fire), native vegetables (earth), and fruits from the trees (air).

Mayan Spa Experiences – In Maroma’s Kinan Spa has launched four new treatments to honour its natural surroundings. These can be combined with a traditional Mayan Temazcal, a ritualistic treatment which weaves together ancient traditions to leave an overall feeling of cleanliness, calm and inner peace. Once again the four treatments are centered on the four elements, from an earthy foot treatment to a “Mayan Cycle of Water” treatment utilizing the spa’s pools.

Cultural Experiences – Guests are encouraged to visit the great cities of Chichen Itza and Coba, but these are not just quickie sightseeing tours. There are opportunities to visit local villages, join in cooking traditional dishes, or visiting local craftsmen using a traditional kiln for pottery making.

Visit Maroma Resort’s website to get more information or to make a reservation. Follow this link to see our full review of Maroma in the Riviera Maya.

Experience the world of Orient-Express – a collection of hotels, trains, cruises and restaurants. Find out more and book online

I just spent a couple days at the Luxury Travel Expo in Las Vegas. This is an annual meet-up between high-performing travel agents and many of the companies catering to the upscale travel market.

In general, luxury travelers like you are still out and about as much as ever. After a dip in 2010, many of the agencies and tour companies are seeing big increases in business. There’s a bit more price resistance, sure, but those who travel well are still going. And they don’t want a routine trip. We may have all given up on our congress being able to accomplish virtually anything, but we’re getting on a plane anyway.

There are some interesting trends emerging, however, and a lot of them came out in a panel discussion with the heads of four upscale tour companies. One of them, Swain Tours, doesn’t cover Latin America, but the other three do to at least some extent: Tauck, Abercrombie & Kent, and Classic Vacations. Here’s what they had to say.

1) People with money see travel as a high priority.
For most high-end travelers, a vacation is going to happen, no matter what kind of cutbacks are going on in their life. “These people lead busy lives and what they care about most is connections,” says Daniel Maher of Tauck Tours. “They want to spend their time with friends and family on special experiences. They want good value, sure, but high quality, a special experience shared with the people they care about. That need for connections and experience is even growing even more quickly in this time when all this turmoil is happening.”

Scott Wiseman from Abercrombie and Kent agreed, saying that customers now don’t just talk about where they went: it’s more about what they experienced, what they did, who they came in contact with. “People are looking for truly special experiences.”

2) Multi-generational travel is big and getting bigger
I heard this a lot at the Adventure Travel Summit this year too. As people with means seek out those special experiences that will generate a lifetime of memories, they often want to share it with their whole extended family. Ian Swain of Swain Tours said, “It’s not uncommon now for us to get a group of 20 or 30 relatives traveling together.” So don’t worry that these tour companies or specialty agents can’t accommodate your request: they’re used to making sure the itinerary works for everyone, from 9-year-olds who need to be entertained to 90-year-olds with mobility issues.

3) Perception is still a problem for Mexico, but it’s getting better.
Greg Bernd of Classic Vacations says their Mexico business has really picked up the last three months as other negative news has captured the attention of the cable news networks. And perhaps people have gotten better at reading a map. (I went to Mexico presentation where they reminded everyone that Cabo San Lucas is 1,000 miles from the border and Cancun is 3,000.) He said, “There’s terrific new infrastructure, true luxury resorts, and service that is better than it has ever been. There’s incredible value in that marketplace.”

4) More destination weddings
Greg from Classic Vacations says last time he was at Grand Velas in the Riviera Maya of Mexico, “There were four weddings a day going on there.” All four panelists said they’re seeing an uptick in this business as people seek a special experience and in some cases—like in Mexico or Central America—it ends up being a better value for the people paying the bill.

5) You can save a bundle by following a crisis.
Scott from Abercrombie & Kent said, “On a slow weekend, CNN loves to cover the worst of what these countries has to offer.” They were having trouble getting people to go to Egypt after discounting 20 or 30%. Since A&K has 400+ employees though, the company wanted to keep guests coming. “When we lowered the price by half, the safety fears evaporated. We crossed the critical axis.” (With eyes and ears on the ground there, they know the real story and how to adapt to changing conditions—another reason to use an experienced operator.)

Nearly anyone who has gone to Mexico from the summer of 2008 onward has found terrific value. There were other opportunities in Honduras (post-coup), Chile (post-earthquake), and the mother of all opportunities in Latin America: Argentina 10 years ago after the financial meltdown. Do your homework and, if you’re worried about safety, go with a tour company that has a long history in that region. They’ll have the contacts to adapt and you’ll probably get a significant discount or lots of extra perks.

6) We’re sick of extra charges
Daniel from Tauck says, “Customers don’t want to be fooled or have other fees piled on top. They really resent it.” He says they can’t control the shady practices from airlines or resorts, but their company tries to quote prices that get all that in the mix from the beginning. They have worked out how to present a flat rate for airfare to Europe with all the fuel surcharges and other gotchas already folded in. “We try to give an all-inclusive price and then surprise to the upside with extras the guest wasn’t expecting, to be proactive and create those special memories.”

Greg from Classic Vacations agreed that airfare costs—and fuel surcharges—are one of the biggest obstacles for many of his customers. Flights to Hawaii, where they are very active, have increased dramatically in price. They’ve had some success offering airfare credits back with the booking of a certain number of nights at high-end hotels.

P.S. – As I listened to this last part about annoying fees that make customers resentful, I was typing on my laptop and pulled up the Wi-Fi screen for the convention center at Mandalay Bay Hotel in Vegas. Here’s a screen shot below. How does $525 a day for Wi-Fi sound, on top of a “resort fee”? That’s what I pay Verizon for almost an entire year of fiber optic cable internet access direct to my home…

In my opinion, the Intercontinental Hotel Group’s Priority Club program offers the best return out there for your loyalty. For one thing, they make it very easy to redeem points for rewards—with no annoying expiration dates. Then there’s the “Point Breaks” program, where a few times a year they let you book from a list of selected hotels for just 5,000 points. That’s a tremendous bargain as it equates to $50 or less of points value.

Granted, just a few of their hotels (I-C, Holiday Inn, Crowne Plaza, Staybridge Suites) would meet this publication’s definition of luxury: most are convention hotels or for business travelers who don’t want any surprises. But sometimes you just need a place to lay your head for the night as you’re passing through a big city. If you’re going to be in Mendoza, Medellin, or Merida, Mexico before the end of January, jump on this opportunity now as these tend to sell out quickly. I can’t imagine that Santiago one will be available very long. The one in Ciudad Juarez, however, is a different story. Take your time booking that one…

Get a taste below then follow this link to see the list by continent: Priority Club Point Breaks.