Where to Stay in Quito: An Honest Guide to the City’s Neighborhoods

Casa Aliso, La Floresta, Quito. August 2026.

Short answer: most first-time visitors do best in La Floresta or González Suárez — residential, walkable, twenty minutes by car from the historic centre. Stay in the Old Town only if colonial architecture is the whole reason you came and be aware it empties out at night. Skip La Mariscal unless you’re specifically looking for nightlife.

That’s the compressed version. What follows is the longer one, written by someone who lives here and who will happily tell you when this hotel isn’t the right choice for your trip.

First, the thing that shapes every other decision

Quito is long and narrow. The city runs roughly 40 kilometres north to south along a valley at 2,850 metres (9,350 ft), squeezed between the Pichincha volcano and a canyon. It is not a city you can casually walk across.

That geography matters more than any neighbourhood description, because it means two things:

• Distance costs real time. The Old Town and the northern business district are about 10 km apart, but at 6 p.m. that can be 45 minutes by car.
• The altitude changes your appetite for walking. A hill that looks unremarkable on a map will make you stop halfway up on your first day. This is normal and it passes in about 48 hours. Choose a neighbourhood where you can walk to dinner on flat ground, at least at first.

Centro Histórico — the Old Town
Quito’s historic centre was one of the first two places in the world to be declared a UNESCO World Heritage Site, in 1978. It deserves it. La Compañía de Jesús, San Francisco, Plaza Grande on a weekday morning — there is nothing else like it in the Andes.

Stay here if: colonial architecture is the point of the trip, and you want to step out of your door into it.

Don’t stay here if: you’re staying four nights or more. The Old Town is a working administrative and commercial district. Offices close, shops shutter, and by 8 p.m. large stretches of it are genuinely empty. Restaurant options after dark are thin and concentrated in a few blocks around La Ronda and Plaza San Francisco. It is also the steepest part of the city — which, in your first 48 hours at altitude, is a factor.

The other honest caveat: the Old Town is loud. Buses, church bells, processions, and on weekends, music until late. Ask about street-facing rooms.

La Mariscal
For twenty years, La Mariscal was where every backpacker in Ecuador stayed. Plaza Foch, the hostels, the tour agencies, the bars.

It isn’t that anymore. The area has thinned out considerably, several of the anchor businesses have closed, and it now has a reputation among locals as a place you don’t linger in after dark. There are still good hostels and a few solid restaurants, and if you’re 24 and want cheap beds and company, it works.

Our honest position: if you’re travelling in your forties, fifties or sixties and looking for a quiet base, this is not your neighbourhood. Guidebooks written before 2019 will tell you otherwise. We’d rather you heard it from us.

La Floresta
This is our neighbourhood, so read the following knowing that.

La Floresta is a residential district built mostly between the 1940s and 1970s — low houses with gardens, jacaranda trees, narrow streets that were never designed for the traffic they now get. It sits just east of the Ejido park, between the Old Town and the northern city.

What it’s actually like: quiet on weekdays, mildly busy on weekends. There’s an independent cinema, Ocho y Medio, that’s been showing non-commercial film since the nineties. There’s a small produce market. There are more good restaurants per block than anywhere else in Quito right now — a wave of young Ecuadorian chefs moved in over the last decade because the rents were low and the houses had kitchens.

Stay here if: it’s your first time in Quito, you like being able to walk to dinner, you’re travelling at a slower pace, or you’re using Quito as a base and returning between trips to Otavalo, Cotopaxi or Mindo. It’s also a great choice if you want to explore the Historic Center and Quito’s main attractions during the day, while coming back to a lively neighbourhood with plenty of cafés, restaurants and places to eat. Most of the city’s main sights, including the Historic Center, are around a 15-minute taxi ride away, and taxis in Quito are quite affordable.

Don’t stay here if: If you need a large hotel with a gym, a business centre and 24-hour room service. That’s a real need, and La Floresta doesn’t serve it.

The streets are mostly flat, which sounds trivial and isn’t. On day one at 2,850 m, flat is a gift.

González Suárez and La Paz
The ridge above the Guápulo canyon, north of La Floresta. High-rise apartments, some of the best views in the city, and a concentration of well-run mid- and upper-range hotels.

Stay here if: you want a reliable, comfortable, professionally-run hotel with a view and don’t mind that the street life is limited. It’s safe, it’s easy, it’s a little anonymous.

Don’t stay here if: you want to feel like you’re in Ecuador rather than in a nice hotel corridor. It’s also on a slope — the walk back up from Guápulo is a genuine climb.

La Carolina and Iñaquito
The financial and commercial north. Parque La Carolina, the malls, the corporate towers, most of the international chain hotels.

Stay here if: you’re here for business, your meetings are in the north, or you want a known brand with predictable standards. Also the best area if you’re travelling with teenagers who will want a mall.

Don’t stay here if: this is a cultural trip. You’ll spend 30 minutes each way getting to the parts of the city you came to see.

Cumbayá and the valleys
Cumbayá sits 500 metres lower than Quito, which means it’s warmer, sunnier, and slightly easier on the lungs. It’s where a lot of Quito’s professional class actually lives, and where the USFQ university and several corporate parks are.

Stay here if: your business is in the valley, or you want warmth and are willing to be car-dependent.

Don’t stay here if: you’re a tourist. You’ll be commuting into the city every day.

Near the airport — Tababela and Puembo

Quito’s airport (UIO) is about 40 km east of the city, roughly 45–60 minutes depending on traffic. There are hotels within ten minutes of the terminal.

Stay here if: your outbound flight leaves before 7 a.m., or you land after midnight and don’t want an hour in a car.

Don’t stay here if: you have any other option. There is nothing out there but hotels and farmland.

A note for Galápagos travellers: flights to Baltra and San Cristóbal leave Quito early, which makes an airport hotel tempting for the outbound leg. In practice, most travellers do better with two nights in the city beforehand — you need to acclimatise anyway, and you need to complete the INGALA transit control formalities at the airport before check-in, which is easier when you’re not exhausted.

How to move between neighbourhoods
Taxis are metered and cheap by North American or European standards. Always use a registered taxi (yellow, with a numbered orange plate and a working meter) or an app. If you are going out you can always ask a front desk personel to call a taxi for you.

Ride-hailing apps operate in Quito and are widely used by residents. Their legal status has been ambiguous for years and airport pickup rules change  — check the current situation before you land, or arrange a transfer.

The Metro is Quito’s newest and least-understood asset. Line 1 runs the length of the city, from Quitumbe in the south to El Labrador in the north, with 15 stations. It’s clean, fast, and it bypasses the traffic entirely. For a visitor, the useful stretch is between the Old Town stations and the northern city — a journey that can take 45 minutes by car and around 15 underground. Fares are a fraction of a dollar.

Frequently asked questions – FAQ
What is the best neighbourhood to stay in Quito?

For most visitors, La Floresta or González Suárez. Both are residential, safe to walk in the evening, and about 20 minutes from the historic centre by car. La Floresta is flatter and has more restaurants within walking distance; González Suárez has better views and larger hotels. The Old Town is better for short, architecture-focused stays.

Should I stay in Quito’s Old Town or the New Town?

Stay in the Old Town if your trip is short and centred on colonial architecture — you’ll be steps from Plaza Grande and San Francisco. Stay in the newer residential districts if you’re here three nights or more, want dinner options after 8 p.m., and prefer flatter streets while you acclimatise to the altitude.

How far is Quito airport from the city centre?

Mariscal Sucre International Airport (UIO) is roughly 40 km east of Quito, in Tababela. Travel time to the city is typically 45 to 60 minutes by car, longer in rush hour. There is no rail link. Most visitors take a registered taxi, a ride-hailing app or a hotel transfer arranged in advance.

Do I need a hotel near the airport for an early Galápagos flight?

Usually not. Galápagos flights leave Quito in the morning, and a city hotel with a pre-arranged early transfer handles this comfortably. Staying in the city also lets you acclimatise to 2,850 m before the trip and leave luggage behind, which most small hotels will do at no charge for guests returning afterwards.