Illa Boutique Hotel Quito Ecuador

We’ve talked before about the good reasons to hang around for a while in Quito, Ecuador. For the first time in a few years, there’s a new luxury property opening up this month to talk about too: Illa Experience Hotel. There’s a connection to the well-respected tour company Latin Trails, so we know it’s going to be well-run from the start.

Illa Boutique Hotel restaurant door It’s located in the historic center of one of the original UNESCO World Heritage cities, in the San Marcos neighborhood. This has long been a tight-knit neighborhood of creative types, so it’s an area with a lot of vitality. Some of the buildings go back 400 years and it’s a five-minute walk to the main plaza from here.

Parts of the Illa Hotel building date back to 1700, but the interior went through renovations in the 20th century that did away with many of the historic elements. Since some of it needed a complete revamp anyway, the hotel is a mix of modern and historic, with some parts preserved or restored, others replaced with current materials. Of course that means all the modern plumbing and wiring modern luxury hotel guests expect will be in place.

The top room choice is the Panecillo Suite, which has a direct view of its namesake  Panacillo ‘Virgin of Quito’ statue that tops the main hill near the center. The bedroom and living room are sumptuous, but we really like this bathroom:

Illa Hotel Quito luxury suite bathroom

Some other rooms share this view, but everyone can get it from the rooftop bar up top. This is just an architectural rendering, but it gives you a good sense of this magical spot:

Illa Hotel Quito view from rooftop bar

The Junin Master Suite is also quite plus, with an equally impressive bathroom that has a free-standing tub. Going by what we’ve seen so far, rooms here will be on par with the other high-end properties in town such as Casa Gangotena and Plaza Grande. Each room will have L’Occitane toiletries, fine linens, safe, minibar, robes, slippers, complimentary WiFi, and turndown service.

A full-service restaurant is on site, from an award-winning chef, along with a spa offering massage treatments and a wine cellar with a table for six.

Update: a while after this post went live, we were able to get one of our correspondents into Illa Experience to do a full review based on personal experience. See that and original photos of the property at our Illa Experience Hotel review page.

To make a booking, go to IllaExperienceHotel.com.

See more of our coverage of luxury hotels and tours in Ecuador.