Here I sit in the Quito airport waiting for my flight to Lima, Peru. It is raining outside.....rather pouring....as winter is beginning in Ecuador.
I DON'T WANT TO GO!
Not because its Lima.....but because I have just spent another wonderful experience at my favorite hotel in the entire world.
You all know that I spend many nights and so many days exploring hotels and looking for new experiences for my clients and my readers. I am by all accounts "jaded" because I have spent time is some of the loveliest places on earth.
Well.....yesterday found me once again at La Mirage Garden Hotel and Spa in Cotacachi, Ecuador. I love Ecuador.....it is such a wonderful green land of lovely people, rolling hillsides, snow capped Andes mountains.....green pastures with cows grazing...horses everywhere...and beautiful indigenous families in native dress decorating the landscape with their long black hair trailing down their backs. And Ecuador is one of the cleanest countries in South America. So proud of their heritage and their lush countryside....the Ecuadorians do all possible to keep their country trash free and environmentally clean.
Cotacachi is a small town about one hour and 45 minutes from Quito. The drive through the Andes is a pleasant experience through indigenous villages beautiful landscapes. Cotacachi itself is a small town with a main street peppered with leather shops. Here you can purchase some of the most supple leather coats and bags ever seen. And prices are well within any one's budget.
At the end of the main street you take a left into one of the most lovely paradise's on earth. Relais & Chateau La Mirage....is an old hacienda, beautifully decorated and surrounded by beautifully planted landscaping full of flowers and plants that attract a myriad of hummingbirds and other colorful birds from this region.
Wild Peacocks roam the gardens as if they were kings and queens of this property.
The rooms are all suites and personally decorated by the owner in historic hacienda style. Personal paintings of his family hang in the bar and reception area.
The Spa is another splendours thing. All the treatment rooms have themes and your can have anything from a chocolate body scrub to an ancient shaman ritual. Before each treatment a fire is lit in each room's stone fireplace and a bath drawn and strewn with rose petals. Your treatment begins after a relaxing bath that you can take by yourself or with the assistance of your massage therapist. I thought it would be strange to have someone else bathe me....but under cover of thousands of rose petals....it was beyond relaxing. At the end of your treatment you are led to a room bathed in candle light and painting in a deep warm blush. Here with soft music playing you can relax or meditate or even sleep after your treatment.
At La Mirage...you have any number of activities aside from the Spa and shopping for leather. There are horses to ride, tennis courts and mountain bikes for the nearby trails.
But the most wonderful thing about La Mirage is the kitchen. Each meal is an experience in gourmet dining. The owner himself is a gourmet chef and although he does not serve as executive chef, he is always observing and coming up with some of the most fabulous food creatings and presentations I have seen in my life.
My favorite is the chef's surprise course which is presented within a music box playing beautiful music.
The main courses are always fabulous and the deserts are beyond imagination. My favourite is the lavender sorbet served within lavender infused rose petals. Three sorbet roses are placed on a blue plate for a visual delight as well as a delight for the palate.
So again....as I sit in the Quito airport ready to fly to my meetings in Lima....I am devastated that I have to once again depart this wonderful country and in particular....La Miiage Resort and Spa.
No comments:
Post a Comment