Wow. I didn't realize that I posted to this thread in 2007. Well, we got to Peru last year and are finally going to visit the Galapagos in 2017.

I'm getting close to the dates to start working to grab my flights. It looks like many flights from the USA get into Quito quite late at night or shortly past midnight.

I do see SkiAdcock's comments in post #14 of this thread regarding transport from the airport to the hotel. Can anyone else who has used this hotel comment about transport both from airport to hotel and also back to the airport at the end of our visit? Should I anticipate any transfer issues if we arrive shortly after midnight?

I stayed at this hotel about a week ago as a lonely tourist.
Regarding the transportation, it's pretty simple:

You can go to the taxi counter outside the arrivals area, and they charge a flat $26USD to the hotel itself. They'll give you a ticket which you then give to the driver which is front of the line.

Getting back to the airport, the hotel strongly encourages you to use their $50USD shuttle service for 'safety'. Upon prying, I convinced them to call a telephone taxi service which charged the same $26 back to the airport. Both options are available at all times.

It's a long way to the airport...

Thanks for the info. Very helpful.

So you paid in US dollars rather than Ecuadorean currency? I was figuring that I'd have to look for an ATM at the airport to get some local currency to pay for a taxi.

I can see that the hotel is not that close to the airport. My return to the USA could be a 7 AM flight, but with the long taxi ride that may just be too early. I'm probably going to aim for a later flight, in the PM, so that my wife doesn't kill me for making her get up crazy early.

Check-in/Check-out:
Very efficient and welcoming. Was thanked for my loyalty, offered the usual arrival gift choices of 500pts, some light snacks or $10 F&B credit.

Room/Upgrade:
As a PP staying one night on points, I booked whatever the standard points room was and was given an executive room on the 9th floor (same floor as the lounge). The rooms are undergoing a renovation but this floor was finished. The room was your standard King size but was very nicely updated with sleek, contemporary furniture and wood floors. Bathroom had a separate shower/bath.

Late Check-out:
As the new benefit promises, I was granted a 4pm checkout without question. In addition, since I had a late night flight, I was graciously allowed to continue to the use of the facilities and access the executive lounge as late as I needed it that evening for no additional cost. This was a very nice gesture and something I appreciated quite a bit.

Overall Property:
The property itself was very nice for a city hotel located in a nice area of Quito (though around a 10-15min cab ride from the historic center). There are plenty of shops, a mall and several restaurants around the immediate area. Each interaction with staff was friendly. The front desk attendant remembered my name immediately and greeted me each time we crossed paths during my short stay.

Fitness center was located in the basement level and was adequate. Ellipticals, treadmills, weights. They were all in good working condition but showing their age; the weight machines in particular.

The outdoor pool area was very nice. It has a large pool with several lounge chairs and good sun, but certainly not a resort level area.

Concierge Lounge:
The concierge lounge was located on the 9th floor (Exec. floor). Lounge open daily from 6a – 11pm and is not key accessible outside those hours. Fantastic offerings & service.

Food service times:
Breakfast 6:00a – 10:00a
Light Lunch/Grab & Go 11:00a – 2:00p
Hor D’oeuvres 5:30p – 7:30p
Desserts 8:00p – 10:00p

Now I'd like to ask the laundry question. I've got a collection of quick dry clothes for travel, but laundry is still always one of our biggest logistic problems on these international trips.

Any advice? Are there reliable lavanderias near the hotel? Directions?

Thanks.

Has anyone been upgraded to a suite as a platinum?

Has anyone booked a taxi from the hotel for sightseeing? And what did you see?

Do you have any nearby restaurants to recommend? How are the restaurants in the hotel?

UIO has a bunch of flights arriving from the US late at night; when I flew ATL-UIO, there weren't any issues at all with getting a cab from UIO around midnight.

In terms of your second post around using US dollars, USD is the official currency of Ecuador, so no currency conversion needed. :)

One more comment about transport - this applies if anyone reading this is on a Galapagos package with Celebrity Cruises. The package normally includes airport to JW Marriott transfer and a short stay at the JW prior to the cruise.

We plan to arrive in advance of our Celebrity Cruise package. That will give us some leisure time to explore Quito on our own, enjoy the hotel, and adjust to the altitude. The boards at Cruise Critic led me to believe that Celebrity would NOT provide transport for us from the airport to the hotel if we were to arrive early. But that proved incorrect. I called Celebrity and was advised to email [email protected]. I provided my flight info and a copy of our JW Marriott reservation. A few days later I received a return email that they would have a representative pick me up at the airport (after clearing customs) for transport to the hotel.

We had a very pleasant 3 night stay. Our flight arrived around 10pm. We were out of the airport at the taxi rank at 10:30pm. Taxis charge a flat rate of $25 to the hotel.

Hotel staff was unfailingly gracious and helpful. On check in, a room on the 10th floor was preblocked. I asked if it was possible to get a suite. I am platinum. The agent checked and said I could have a junior suite on the 4th floor or the executive room on the 10th. We like space so went with the junior suite - which turned out to be a full suite with a door between the bedroom and the living room. I was given a long stemmed rose each of our first two days in the hotel. Ecuador is the 3rd largest exporter of flowers in the world. 73% of those flowers are roses. The hotel has many roses in arrangements, from tiny thumbnail long roses in little bouquets in the executive lounge to huge arrangements of 48 roses at the front desk.

Our suite was comfortable with a spacious living room, bedroom, and bathroom with both walk in shower and bathtub. The bathroom could be entered from the entry hall or from the bedroom.

The executive lounge had extensive food offerings, not particularly to my taste, but still generous in what was served. Omelets were made to order at breakfast, along with hot oatmeal, bacon, and the usual continental offerings. An extensive array of appetizers, sandwiches, a main, a soup, and several desserts were set up at 5:30pm. Food was carb heavy. Staff was unfailingly gracious and hard working.

We used the hotel car service each day to do local sightseeing. We were fortunate and had Diego as our driver. There are 22 drivers, 5 of whom speak English. He is Ecuadorian/Russian, fluent and bright. The first day we went to the two museums for the equator, the view point for the volcano, as well as going thru the colonial heart of the town. This was about $100. The second day was a trip to the Otavalo Market, an indigenous market with lots of local crafts about 2 hours from Quito. It included stops at 2 lakes, and shopping in a town where good quality leather goods were made. This cost $150.

The hotel highly recommended Urko Restaurant and now I recommend it to you. It offers Ecuadorian food, very contemporary presentation, tapas style. The restaurant was small and comfortable with great service. It was a $3 ride from the hotel. I texted Diego when we were ready to return and a driver promptly arrived to take us back.

I'm at the Executive Lounge right now and have to say that I'm pleasantly happy with the hotel.

I was proactively upgraded by the hotel to a Junior Suite even though I didn't ask for one, I also did a mobile check-in so was pleasantly surprised by the upgrade. The FD agent informed me that I can use the hotel facilities including the Executive Lounge after I check out at 4PM due to my late night flight. The breakfast spread at the Lounge wasn't that great IMO but the dinner spread is top-notch. They had soup, cheese and deli meat plates, some chips with salsa and guac, and several hot entrees such as chicken skewers, roasted salmon, roasted veggies, and rice.

It still costs $25 for a taxi from the airport. The hotel uses a private car company and charges $50 each way. Unfortunately, no room charges are allowed on the way back to the airport even when using the private car company.

Thanks for the update. Much appreciated.

Cheers.

And what about booze?

Two kinds of beers in the fridge which were locked so you had to request it. Not sure what liquors and wines they had as it was on-request as well. The wines and liquor bottles were put in the kitchen so you couldn't see what they offered.

That's too bad. Was it complimentary? Presentation and staging is half the salesmanship, if it's not complimentary.

I believe only during hors d'oeuvres which is like between 5:30PM and 7:30PM.