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Doña Esther is a small colonial style hotel in the center of Otavalo, just half a block from the central Bolivar park and near the famous Saturday crafts market. With only 13 rooms we can keep it personal, someone of our staff will always be eager to help you. Your room has a view on the green inner courtyard, so you can sit outside your room and enjoy a glass of beer or wine after a day of activities, which our staff will gladly bring up to your room. Or have a seat on the rooftop terrace with beautiful views over Otavalo and the surrounding mountains. Our restaurant Árbol de Montalvo (See here on Tripadvisor) with a delicious and inventive menu is just downstairs, our reading room has enough books to buy or exchange. A choice of breakfasts is included in the room price. Our restaurant is open every day from 7am until 9pm, only Monday evenings we're usually closed at 6pm. Come and take a look, we'll be happy to have you as our guests!
Wow! Beautiful. Charming. Great courtyard. Fantastic food, baked in a large outdoor oven. Gorgeous. Warm blankets for chilly nights. Serves Coca tea.. Incredible. Large range of food choices. Breakfast choices included. The yogurt, granola and fruit is enough for two, with delicious honey.
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Date of stay: August 2023
Value
Location
Service
Trip type: Travelled with friends
Room Tip:The personal pizzas are big enough to share. The cauliflower with cheese soup is to swoon over.
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This review is the subjective opinion of a Tripadvisor member and not of Tripadvisor LLC. Tripadvisor performs checks on reviews as part of our industry-leading trust & safety standards. Read our transparency report to learn more.
This quaint hotel is perfectly situated in Otavalo. Wendy and Arthur, the proprietors are welcoming and helpful. as are all of their staff. Everyone seems to have a sense of pride in ensuring that your stay is comfortable. We felt they went beyond typical service to make sure our stay was as pleasant as possible. The restaurant is excellent...the best meal we had in Ecuador: fantastic soups, perfectly done shrimp and amazing sauces. We would highly recommend both the hotel and restaurant and hope to visit again.
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Date of stay: March 2023Trip type: Travelled with friends
This review is the subjective opinion of a Tripadvisor member and not of Tripadvisor LLC. Tripadvisor performs checks on reviews as part of our industry-leading trust & safety standards. Read our transparency report to learn more.
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Response from Wendy van Driel, Owner at Hotel Doña Esther
Responded 16 Mar 2023
Thank you so muxh for these wonderful comments, we're happy with happy guests. It was nice to meet you and we certainly hope to see you again! Best, Wendy&Arthur
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This response is the subjective opinion of the management representative and not of Tripadvisor LLC.
Good place in Otavalo located near the Saturday Poncho Market. Very clean, breakfast was very good. Staff was friendly and even they offer rides to Quito airport. It is also good that the hotel has a restaurant for lunch or dinner.
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Date of stay: July 2022
Cleanliness
Service
Sleep Quality
This review is the subjective opinion of a Tripadvisor member and not of Tripadvisor LLC. Tripadvisor performs checks on reviews as part of our industry-leading trust & safety standards. Read our transparency report to learn more.
My primary reason for visiting Otavalo was the Saturday morning Poncho Market and Dona Esther is located at a short distance from there. The Dutch couple who own the place are helpful and friendly, as are the staff, although few speak English. Wendy, the owner, had a small electric heater put in my room, which I really appreciated. Noise reverberates around the courtyard and tour groups in particular tend to forget that they aren't the only guests. The valve for the shower is positioned so high that I couldn't reach it; but I was given a mop handle with which to move the lever.
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Date of stay: May 2022
Value
Cleanliness
Service
Room Tip:At first, I was in a noisy, street-facing room (#2) that I couldn't didn't lock, but I...
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This review is the subjective opinion of a Tripadvisor member and not of Tripadvisor LLC. Tripadvisor performs checks on reviews as part of our industry-leading trust & safety standards. Read our transparency report to learn more.
Clean and quilt room even at the hearth of the town, hot shower, nice breakfast, friendly owner but sometimes frustrated to can't communicate with the staff because almost no-one speak any english but I recommend.
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Date of stay: October 2021
Value
Location
Service
This review is the subjective opinion of a Tripadvisor member and not of Tripadvisor LLC. Tripadvisor performs checks on reviews as part of our industry-leading trust & safety standards. Read our transparency report to learn more.
We liked the place because verybody was friendly and customer oriented and a nice restaurant was attached. Contrary to the Lonely Planet we liked the Pizza in the wooden fired oven very much. The rooms were ok and adequate and very clean.
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Date of stay: October 2021
Value
Rooms
Service
Room Tip:All rooms are good
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This review is the subjective opinion of a Tripadvisor member and not of Tripadvisor LLC. Tripadvisor performs checks on reviews as part of our industry-leading trust & safety standards. Read our transparency report to learn more.
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Response from Wendy van Driel, Owner at Hotel Doña Esther
Responded 24 Oct 2021
Thank you so much, we're happy that you had a good time with us. And yes, our pizzas are good, I still like Lonely Planet, but find their view on restaurants - in general - not always accurate, besides, no argues about taste, right? Besides that, we offer a lot more than pizzas on our menu! Come.visit us again when you have the chance!
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This response is the subjective opinion of the management representative and not of Tripadvisor LLC.
I stayed here in March 2021 these are the pros and cons based on my experience: Pros: If you want to be in the town of Ottawa this is a perfect location right in the middle of the town, walking distance to the famous Saturday market, close to the restaurants, the staff are very nice and helpful, the staff help you to arrange activities at reasonable prices, breakfast was very good. Cons: Don’t expect anything fancy this place is clean has hot shower but it’s basic nothing fancy or luxury. There is no elevator which is very common in Ecuador and didn’t bother me but be mindful of that or get a room at a lower floors.
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Date of stay: March 2021Trip type: Travelled solo
This review is the subjective opinion of a Tripadvisor member and not of Tripadvisor LLC. Tripadvisor performs checks on reviews as part of our industry-leading trust & safety standards. Read our transparency report to learn more.
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Response from Wendy van Driel, Owner at Hotel Doña Esther
Responded 2 Apr 2021
Thank you for your comments. However, I would like to state that an elevator for only three floors in a colonial building is somewhat overdone. And yes, a luxury hotel would be far more expensive....we are more.a family style hotel, with a personal atmosphere.
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This response is the subjective opinion of the management representative and not of Tripadvisor LLC.
We spent two nights here. The first night we had a room facing the street and it was noisy. Not the traffic or dogs as other people mention but continual sirens from 3 am on. Apparently it was security alarms from some of the stores but it was unbearable. The hotel has an open courtyard so there was no escaping the noise! This is not something the hotel has control of and we were fortunate that they were able to move us to a room at the back the next night. They had one staff member on staff at breakfast and dinnertime that spoke english and she was very helpful. e used therir driver for a day trip nd for transfer to Quito. He was very good.
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Date of stay: March 2020
Rooms
Cleanliness
Service
This review is the subjective opinion of a Tripadvisor member and not of Tripadvisor LLC. Tripadvisor performs checks on reviews as part of our industry-leading trust & safety standards. Read our transparency report to learn more.
I spent 3 nights here. There are a number of non-trivial flaws which drag down a place with much potential. First the positives: * Good central location in a walkable part of town * Staff was friendly and spoke ok English * Unlimited free purified water * wifi worked well The problems: * By far the biggest issue is noise. My room faced the street, and without exaggeration, the noise is nearly constant, all day & night. Vehicles, people, barking dogs, etc. What's worse is the noise from inside. Walls are thin, and I frequently heard voices, plumbing, walking, crying babies, etc. I slept rather poorly every night, as the noise is unrelenting from all sides. * The breakfast is mediocre at best. Tasteless, stale bread, unseasoned eggs, white processed cheese slices. It was rather unappetizing. * The odor of sewage from the bathroom. I was able to block much of it by keeping the bathroom door closed, but i'd still spend much of the night listening to noise and smelling sewage. I doubt i'd return, as most of the problems are not correctable without significant time & money. …
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Date of stay: March 2020Trip type: Travelled solo
This review is the subjective opinion of a Tripadvisor member and not of Tripadvisor LLC. Tripadvisor performs checks on reviews as part of our industry-leading trust & safety standards. Read our transparency report to learn more.
The restaurant inside this hotel is a fabulous place to have a meal. The food is inexpensive and delicious. The portions are large. They have wood oven pizza and an extensive Ecuadorian menu. The staff are very friendly. They understood food allergies. Great restaurant!
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Date of stay: February 2020Trip type: Travelled with friends
This review is the subjective opinion of a Tripadvisor member and not of Tripadvisor LLC. Tripadvisor performs checks on reviews as part of our industry-leading trust & safety standards. Read our transparency report to learn more.
RM 278 - RM 368 (Based on Average Rates for a Standard Room)
LOCATION
EcuadorImbabura ProvinceOtavalo
NUMBER OF ROOMS
13
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