Hi there,
We booked this apartment through booking.com since it had free cancellation and so we could take the opportunity to talk to the hostess and in case it did not suit our needs, we could cancel the reservation without problems.
We asked the usual questions about internet speed, kitchen equipment, work areas.
We were impressed that the hostess told us that she would set two desks and two office chairs for us. In fact, via WhatsApp she sent us the photos of the desks and chairs she had seen, so that we could choose the ones we liked the most.
When making the reservation through booking.com, we had the possibility of paying in cash upon arrival, this gave us a lot of peace of mind since, if you arrive and you do not like the accommodation or what you had seen on the website is not true, you leave without losing all your money as happens with Airbnb.
The hostess also put us in contact with an agency that managed the transfer from the airport at a very good price.
We were received by Vero, who lived in the same building, she oversaw managing the accommodation since the owner lives in Spain. From the first moment we were delighted because it was the first time since November 2021 that we found a normal accommodation.
It was clean, the sofa and the chairs had covers (which seems basic to me for tourist accommodation due to hygiene), good internet speed, two normal work areas, a fully equipped kitchen for long stays, a large bottle of water with a dispenser (in Latin America you cannot drink tap water), amenities (soap, fruit, coffee, tea, sugar, salt, etc.), enough good quality towels, good mattress, enough blankets.
The tv remote was a bit broken and the next day Vero brought us a new one.
In Quito, although it is cold, they do not use heating. As it was very cold for us, especially to shower, we asked the hostess if she could please put some heating for us and in two days, we already had a new stove. The bad thing is that the stove didn’t worked properly.
With Airbnb accommodations it is almost always a problem because many times the owner of the accommodation does not even live in the same city, but here the service and hospitality were unbeatable since Vero lived in the same building and if we had any problem, in 5 minutes was resolved.
Something that gave us a lot of quality of life is that it was quiet and there was practically no noise. This was a big change after Playa del Carmen, Colombia, and Peru. In addition, the windows were of good quality and insulated the apartment very well.
In terms of location, it is in the Mariscal area, which is one of the best in Quito. We had a vegan restaurant and the Super Maxi supermarket within a 5-minute walk. Also, we were relatively close to places of interest like downtown, museums, and parks.
Although we initially planned to spend 3 months in Quito, we wanted to return to Europe early and we only stayed for a month, but we were very comfortable in that apartment.
As digital nomads we realized that it is very difficult and almost impossible to find basic standards in tourist accommodation; even if you pay a lot of money, you find the place filthy, bad hospitality, a poorly equipped kitchen, poor quality, precariousness and don’t even think about asking for a workspace.
In this accommodation we were so well because of the common sense of the hostess, and because the desire to provide a good service was evident.
When we returned to Spain, Vero gave us an envelope to send to María Elena, the owner of the apartment. María Elena was writing daily for several days for us to send the urgent envelope. As you can imagine, we had a thousand more important things to do, especially since we had been away for 7 months. After sending the envelope, she asked me for the details to pay for the shipment. The 5 euros never arrived. Thus, the hostess that we held in such high esteem, was bad for a miserable 5 euros.
Accommodation link:
https://www.booking.com/hotel/ec/confortable-moderno-y-hermoso-departamento.html
Link to watch the video of the property on my YouTube channel: