Plaza Foch Hotel Recommendations?

I stayed at the following hotel in Quito and really liked it.  Wasn't too far from Foch square.

http://www.hotelviejacuba.com/

Thanks Nards. Looks great!  And think my sisters place may be almost right around the corner from there, but won't swear to it. Out of curiosity, did you try the food there? Know you're always giving reviews from different places. Not a big deal one way or the other, but if the place has good food, and is near my sister, then that's a good score. Yeah I know people. Traveling all the way to Ecuador, and not exploring around is terrible, but that;s not the purpose of this trip.

When I was there, I think they just served breakfast in the mornings, but there are restaurants all around that area including across the street..   And there is a Supermaxi a short walk from there.

Nards Barley wrote:

When I was there, I think they just served breakfast in the mornings, but there are restaurants all around that area including across the street..   And there is a Supermaxi a short walk from there.

Thanks

I also stayed here as well once, and it was okay.  It is not too far from Foch square I recall.  It is not as nice as the first place I linked to above but it was less money-- $30 a night a recall, a couple years ago. It is right across the street from a huge mall (mall jardin).

http://hostaleljardin.net/

Nards Barley wrote:

I also stayed here as well once, and it was okay.  It is not too far from Foch square I recall.  It is not as nice as the first place I linked to above but it was less money-- $30 a night a recall, a couple years ago. It is right across the street from a huge mall (mall jardin).

http://hostaleljardin.net/

Can't beat the price of that. Really liked that first place you linked Nards. My other sister is traveling with me, but as long as she's ok with it, think will try to get a reservation at the first place you suggested. Thnks again for the suggestion.

j600rr wrote:

Anyone have any recommendations for in/around the Plaza Foch area?

For more reviews and hotel recommendations, google:  booking.com plaza foch quito

j600rr wrote:

Also any recommended places to watch NFL on Sunday would be appreciated.

Sports Planet overlooking the plaza is a good bet.

I wrote it up (Report 10, American Football in Quito thread) after watching a Monday Night Football game there.

Up to three NFL games at a time are shown on Sunday afternoons.  The manager was co-operative in dialing up the MNF Cleveland-Cincinnati game when I was there.

The wings and such are tasty.  Walk over to the windows and you get a great view looking down on Foch Plaza.

cccmedia in Quito

cccmedia wrote:

Sports Planet overlooking the plaza is a good bet.

I wrote it up (Report 10, American Football in Quito thread) after watching a Monday Night Football game there.

Up to three NFL games at a time are shown on Sunday afternoons.  The manager was co-operative in dialing up the MNF Cleveland-Cincinnati game when I was there.

The wings and such are tasty.  Walk over to the windows and you get a great view looking down on Foch Plaza.

cccmedia in Quito

Perfect
That sounds good.

Word must be out that Nards Barley recommends hotel vieja cuba. Was sold out for the dates I wanted.  Was surprised that there was quite a few places sold out for my travel dates. Is Plaza Foch just that popular of a place? Anyway decided to take my chances with the Eugenia Hotel. Looks decent, and gets pretty good reviews.

j600rr wrote:

Was surprised that there was quite a few places sold out for my travel dates. Is Plaza Foch just that popular of a place?

It’s true, Plaza Foch is super-popular -- it's the central point of Quito’s Gringo-friendliest sector, Mariscal -- so close to many restaurants, coffee shops, pubs, nightclubs, sports bars, hair salons, souvenir shops, video stores, bakeries, juice storefronts, Internet/phone centers, travel agencies, pharmacies, you name it.

It also is a great people-watching spot -- locals, Gringos, indigenous women selling crafts, backpackers, visitors from other South American countries, partying youth and families.

Also, that part of Mariscal is on level ground .. unlike hilly Centro Histórico and many other sectors.

So, especially if your dates coincide with a holiday weekend in Ecuador or North America, hotels can be fully booked.  The hotels closest to the plaza are not huge, anyway.

Also, consider that visitors to Ecuador these days are more likely than in the past to be visiting Quito rather than the coast, as the capital is relatively distant from this year's earthquake epicenters.

cccmedia in Quito

Awesome hotel.  I stayed here during my three visits to Quito before moving here.  Staff, room, food, everything was great.

JadeRiver wrote:

Awesome hotel.  I stayed here during my three visits to Quito before moving here.  Staff, room, food, everything was great.

Thanks Jade

@ccc Thanks for the write up on Plaza Foch. Sounds really nice, and don't want to give the impression that I'm not interested at all in Plaza Foch. Is more a case of my schedule is going to in large part be dictated by a couple of 5 month old girls. Also have my younger sister who is coming with me to worry about. So wouldn't really classify this particularly as a relaxing typical vacation. Am not really going to have a lot of free time to go around exploring, and really enjoy the area as mush as I wish.

I like to stay at Casa de Maple or Hothello on Av. Amazonas. The former is in the heart of the Plaza Foch area but down an unexpected tree-lined street. The former is adjacent to the Hilton and city artisans' market but a little bit of a walk to Plaza Foch.
Enjoy!

Back from short trip. Quick update on Hotel Eugenia (from my perspective). Overall was quite happy with the hotel. During my stay everyone at the front desk was friendly, helpful, and spoke good English. Room had tv (may or may not be important to people). Most channels were in Spanish, but some were English. Went out down the street to Finn McCool's for football, and baseball games, but was also able to get them on tv at the hotel. The hotel is on Diego de Almagro which has plenty of restaraunts/bars etc. The street was well lit, and from my perspective very safe to walk at night. 1 or 2 in the morning perhaps not a great idea, but I walked that street multiple times around 10 or a bit later at night with no problems. Back to hotel. Always had plenty of hot water for my shower. Although my sisters room was hit or miss with the hot water. Toilets flushed everything down fine. They would call room and ask if you wanted housekeeping for the day, and would also arrange housekeeping to clean based on your schedule(within reason). Only had the free breakfast buffet (about what is to be expected for free buffet). Didn't try the restaurant for other food, but am sure it would be decent enough. Street noise wasn't bad. Although this can be quite subjective. I didn't find the noise that bad, and probably not going to find anything completely quiet in that area. Will definitely stay there again.

Hello,  j600rr,
May I ask what a typical Ecuadorian breakfast buffet would be like? I notice some OPs, in reviewing certain food estabs,  indicated that their meal often included a fruit juice but no mention of coffee or tea.

peripatetic_soul wrote:

Hello,  j600rr,
May I ask what a typical Ecuadorian breakfast buffet would be like? I notice some OPs, in reviewing certain food estabs,  indicated that their meal often included a fruit juice but no mention of coffee or tea.

Probably should have been more specific. The breakfast buffet wasn't  what I'd consider Ecuadorian per se. Was pretty much what any American would be used to for breakfast. Had cereal, eggs, a few types of breads,  pineapple, and watermelon juice, and usually pineapple and watermelon slices of fruit. A few days there were sausages, and other days potatoes for sides. Not sure if there was tea but they had coffee. Am a big coffee drinker, and found the coffee not very good, but there is a coffee, and treat shop right around the corner that has decent coffee, or at least stronger coffee. Thought the breakfast buffet was adequate, but I'm also not a real big breakfast eater. If wasn't with my sister I would probably have skipped the breakfast buffet option.

j600rr wrote:

Back from short trip. Quick update on Hotel Eugenia (from my perspective). Overall was quite happy with the hotel. During my stay everyone at the front desk was friendly, helpful, and spoke good English. Room had tv (may or may not be important to people). Most channels were in Spanish, but some were English. Went out down the street to Finn McCool's for football, and baseball games, but was also able to get them on tv at the hotel. The hotel is on Diego de Almagro which has plenty of restaraunts/bars etc. The street was well lit, and from my perspective very safe to walk at night. 1 or 2 in the morning perhaps not a great idea, but I walked that street multiple times around 10 or a bit later at night with no problems. Back to hotel. Always had plenty of hot water for my shower. Although my sisters room was hit or miss with the hot water. Toilets flushed everything down fine. They would call room and ask if you wanted housekeeping for the day, and would also arrange housekeeping to clean based on your schedule(within reason). Only had the free breakfast buffet (about what is to be expected for free buffet). Didn't try the restaurant for other food, but am sure it would be decent enough. Street noise wasn't bad. Although this can be quite subjective. I didn't find the noise that bad, and probably not going to find anything completely quiet in that area. Will definitely stay there again.

j600r, you enjoyed tranquility because you stayed at a great location in the vicinity of Plaza Foch but away from the noise. Turtle's Head bar was very close to you, did you check it out, a nice sports bar with very nice stout.

Re: peripatetic_soul question about Ecuadorean Buffet

What would an Ecuadorean Breakfast Buffet be like?

Humita, Empanadas, Bolones, Eggs, Fresh Juice and Coffee,??

I’ve been enjoying on many mornings for breakfast a humita with extra aji on top and coffee (instant and black). At $1.50 in my area.

vsimple wrote:

j600r, you enjoyed tranquility because you stayed at a great location in the vicinity of Plaza Foch but away from the noise. Turtle's Head bar was very close to you, did you check it out, a nice sports bar with very nice stout.

Unfortunately didn't have a chance. Will definitely put that on my itenerary for next trip. Had a great time, and enjoyed the area, but between spending a good deal of time at my one sisters who lives there, and the other amount of time trying to keep an eye on my youngest sister, didn't have as much time to really try out a bunch of different places. Next time I go down will be by myself, and it will be much easier to explore the area a bit more.

Forgot to mention in my review the wi-fi. Other than cutting off for a few seconds once, the connection, and speed was pretty good. My last night there youtube ocassionally wouldn't download, but other than that there were no problems.

j600rr wrote:

vsimple wrote:

j600r, you enjoyed tranquility because you stayed at a great location in the vicinity of Plaza Foch but away from the noise. Turtle's Head bar was very close to you, did you check it out, a nice sports bar with very nice stout.

Unfortunately didn't have a chance. Will definitely put that on my itenerary for next trip. Had a great time, and enjoyed the area, but between spending a good deal of time at my one sisters who lives there, and the other amount of time trying to keep an eye on my youngest sister, didn't have as much time to really try out a bunch of different places. Next time I go down will be by myself, and it will be much easier to explore the area a bit more.

That’s completely understandable and pardon me, I was looking at it from my perspective as I go there sometimes and noticed it was near your hotel. Great review, and comprehensive especially after adding the ever important wi-fi review.  Good stuff.

Instant coffee is definitely off the list. I was wondering about "vegetarian" choices during breakfast buffet -- eggs, veggies, fruit. Thanks so much for all the informative feedback. When I visited Panama, I was surprised at how awful the coffee was in Panama City. However, the coffee in Oaxaca, Mexico was so smooth and divine (at just $2 per 8-oz. bag of home grown without preservatives). I'm definitely a coffee aficionado.
PS

peripatetic_soul wrote:

Instant coffee is definitely off the list. I was wondering about "vegetarian" choices during breakfast buffet -- eggs, veggies, fruit. Thanks so much for all the informative feedback. When I visited Panama, I was surprised at how awful the coffee was in Panama City. However, the coffee in Oaxaca, Mexico was so smooth and divine (at just $2 per 8-oz. bag of home grown without preservatives). I'm definitely a coffee aficionado.
PS

Ok here's the thing, if you want quality coffee, freshly ground, then you have to eat and drink at places that serve it and have the machines which means you'll be paying more.

Ecuador has fabulous coffee whether it's from here or Colombia but the vast majority or common places that lower and middle income folk frequent serve instant. Often times they'll have the instant coffee container there and serve you a cup of hot water and for you to serve yourself. These are the places that serve the $0.50 coffee.

If you want freshly ground, you won't be disappointed, there are a plethora of cafes, but expect to pay around $1.50 for black coffee without milk, also more for traditional foods like humitas. For example, as I mentioned I buy in my area from a little joint 1 instant coffee and 1 humita for $1.50. At Juan Valdez or Sweet & Coffee and other nice cafes, a freshly ground coffee and humita will cost around $3.50 at least.

But as coffee aficionado, you'll find nice coffee, so no worries, I'm just stating what it is commercially. As for tea, bring you own. there is absolutely nothing here that is better than lipton and by comparision it would be a 10 and everything else here a 5 at most, the same for green tea.

The coffee for breakfast at Hotel Eugenia would not be to your liking peripatetic_soul. In all honesty as much as I liked the hotel, the coffee was not very good. Vsimple mentioned Sweet&Coffee. That was the cafe I was talking about that I went. Walk out of the hotel, make a right, make another right, and is about a block up on left. Can't miss it. I can't comment on the coffee there, as I always bought an espreso, but imagine the coffee would also be quite sufficient. They also have quite a nice selection of treats if you have a sweet tooth. Didn't buy any sweets, but they had three different kind of cheesecakes that lookes sooo good.

Surprisingly, for many, coffee is not a "thing" here in Ecuador. 

So you know, the customary way to drink instant is to order hot milk, and stir in a teaspoon of instant and some sugar to taste. 

It goes well with a salty bolon: a large dumpling of plaintain verde that is mixed with either queso fresco or chicharron (fresh farmer cheese or pieces of pork) or both and spices and then cooked in a pan.  Served with eggs (my preference is two fried huevos) and this is called a desayuno criollo, a country breakfast.  Usually served with a glass of juice.  Served hot and fresh, so expect to wait about 20 minutes. Great start to the day and very typical of Guayaquil and the coast.