Casa Mojanda

We loved staying at Casa Mojanda. Our room had amazing views of the Imbabura and Cotacachi mountains and the rolling valleys. Casa Mojanda is about 10 minutes by taxi to Otavalo but it's in such peaceful countryside that it was the perfect place to relax after the bustling Otavalo market. The owner, Betti, arranged a tour of villages around Otavalo and we visited the workshops of master weavers and saw textiles that were of much higher quality than found in the regular tourist market. The guide Miguel spoke English really well and was very knowlegable and interesting.

We loved the food. Fresh squeezed juices at breakfast and dinner and delicous soups. One night there was a great local folk music group performing, the tables were moved to the side and all the guests had fun dancing to the music.

Another highlight of our visit was a two hour horse ride around the surrounding countryside. My legs were a bit sore after the ride so the outdoor hot tub felt great.

We loved the Otavalo area and staying at such a lovely and peaceful place definately added to the experience.

This place is so, so great! It's not cheap for Ecuador but the location can't be beat. The views are outstanding and all of the cottages have great views, many with fireplaces, many built with rammed earth. The dining room is so inviting with freshly cooked food, a warm fire and guests recounting their day's adventures. One of the two bad reviews seems like sour grapes by an unhappy former employee and the other one must have been cranky. We have been to Casa Mojanda twice and all the guests were having a great time. I would glady visit again.

I work as a lecturer in sustainable tourism at a leading university in the UK. I travelled around and stayed at various lodges in Ecuador earlier this year to take an audit of their sustainability and environmental claims. However, I was very disturb by what I uncovered at Casa Mojanda. I stayed for 8 weeks whilst helping out with managing the hotel.

I would say that the claims made int he previous review are right and were going on even when I stayed there. It was always cold and the fire wood was damp. I also mentioned to the owner that the soap was not being changed between guests when I was there.

This hotel claims to be something it is not which is not fair on the guests who think they are booking a hotel that has certain eco principles.

Their web site is totally out of date and these were aspirations of the past. Mr Saches and Betti Saches split up some 3 years ago and he is no longer running the hotel and lives 3 hours away. The ideals for the environment were soundly carried out in the past. However, since his departure things have slipped very badly. Mrs Betti Saches does not follow the ideals of her estranged husband.

1. There is NO community garden. There is a garden used for the hotel kitchen. About 10% of the food served is organic. The rest is brought at the supermarket.

2. The community have nothing to do with the owners of Casa Mojanda as they dispute where money and other donations have gone.

3. The hotel charges Pachamama, with a small discount to stay at the hotel for their occasional meetings.

4. Absolutely NO re-cyling takes place. e.g. paper, glass, metals etc.

5. Natural cleaning products are not used.

6. Local workers are badly treated, although they are paid well, but work very long hours and hate working at the hotel and feel they are not respected.

7. Soups that are meant to be vegetarian are in fact often made with chicken stock.

8. Guests are over charged. E.g. Wine brought for $3 a box of cheap wine and changed $5+ a glass.

The reason I have waited so long to expose this hotel is because I am concerned for the local people who rely on the hotel for work. But I also feel an obligation for the guests who book the hotel and spend a lot of money there. There is a need for hotels that claim to be running on eco-tourism principles to be inspected and regulated so not to con the public.

We had a very disappointing six-night experience at Casa Mojanda. They require advance payment by check mailed to Ecuador and I sent in our $1228 payment for six nights including breakfast and dinner (for two) two months in advance. I had enough trust to do this based on the glowing reviews on web-sites stating that this is a hands-on inn run by the owners themselves. This may have been true at one time, but owners "Diego and Betti" are no longer a couple. They have separate lives and Diego lives in Quito, almost three hours away. Betti was in Africa when we visited and staff members said that she no longer runs the hotel, leaving the operations to a manager. I do not believe that she lives full time on the grounds.

The manager left in charge has zero hotel management experience. We learned that she visited Ecuador for the first time six weeks prior to our visit. She does not speak Spanish. I could fill pages with the problems that we encountered. We were cold. We wore hats and coats to dinner and in our room. We had reserved a room with a fireplace but the wood was stored outside and was so wet that a fire could only be started one night. The manger refused to allow us to store wood in our room to dry out. The mattresses, pillows, sheets and bedding are old and worn out and not the level that you expect at a B&B or inn at this price point. The used soap bars from the prior guests were left in the bathroom for our use.

The physical grounds were obviously designed with care and thought and love that are now completely absent from the running of the property. The food is still as reported -- excellent -- and the kitchen staff, and all the Ecuadorean staff are devoted and lovely.

This can not overcome the negligence and poor judgement that the owners exhibit in leaving the property under the management of an untrained, incompetent person that they barely know. First, this manager invited us to watch DVDs of her "spiritual teacher," proselytized about her "shamanism," and prayed at dinner. She had no knowledge of the surrounding area and made several mistakes in arranging our activities that were disastrous and unsafe.

We finally wrote emails to Diego and Betti and Betti has now sent me five emails with scant apology, lots of defense of the staff, and quite nearly blaming me for the outcome of our visit. Diego's response was to credit us $150 of the $1228 we paid in advance. If you need a place to crash in order to see the Otavalo market, you may find it acceptable. But, if you want to make a holiday of exploring the northern Ecuador region, do not count on any expertise or coordinating ability from this management. If you treasure your vacation days, look elsewhere for accommodations.

Casa Mojanda is an amazing inn located near the small town of Otavalo, Ecuador. This town is known for its famous outdoor market, filled with many exotic products. The inn is very cozy and personal, and the owners are very friendly. The inn's main building houses the dining room, the recreation room, the kitchen, the small lobby, and bathrooms. The dining room has a very personal touch to it, since everyone eats together at a given time. Eating here is great, since much of the food is cultivated in the area, prepared right on the spot. The recreation room occupies the second floor, and has a large collection of movies, a ping-pong table, many board games, a very comfortable sofa, and a TV. There's a hot tub right next to the building; very relaxing.

The owners have a few fun dogs running around. There are also llamas and horses. You can ride on horseback all the way to this small waterfall nearby; it's a lot of fun!

Outside of the main building, there's a path leading to all the rooms. The small library is located near the main building, and contains many interesting books. Beyond the library lie the rooms. One of the best parts of the rooms is that they're like cottages, ranging from 1 to 8 beds! They are protected by mosquito-netting, and have standard toilets. Most of them have a spectacular view of the mountains and volcanoes.

At night, the sky fills up with brilliant stars, and fireflies are everywhere! The only thing which may bother travelers is the deadly silence at night, especially if a fly gets trapped in the room. Apart from that, this inn is a must for any traveler in the Ecuadorian Andes.