Hostal Riviera Sucre

Across the cobbled artisan quarter of Otavalo, Hostal Riviera Sucre draws guests who come for the Saturday indigenous market — one of the largest open-air textile markets in South America — with the main Plaza de Ponchos three blocks away on foot.

The hostal's 9.5 rating across 205 reviews points to service that outperforms its two-star category, a pattern common in family-run Ecuadorian guesthouses where owners live on-site and breakfast is cooked to order rather than buffet-style.

Otavalo sits at 2,530 metres in the northern Andes, roughly 110 kilometres from Quito — a two-hour bus ride on the Pan-American Highway. Laguna de San Pablo, a volcanic crater lake with Cotacachi views, is a 20-minute walk from the town edge.