 JW Marriott, Quito |
Way back in mid-2007 we booked the Celebrity 10 night Galapagos Islands cruisetour vacation. This includes 2 nights at the JW Marriott in Quito, a 7 night cruise aboard the Celebrity Xpedition and 1 post-cruise night back at the Marriott in Quito. The time has finally come for us to depart on this trip of a lifetime!
Flying on American via Miami, we depart Denver at around 9am, arriving Miami around 2pm and land in Quito around 7pm. As with any international arrival, we clear passport control, collect our baggage, pass through customs and into the main airport terminal. The Celebrity representatives are here to meet us - escorting us to a near-by coach where we deposit our luggage for loading and climb aboard for our short ride to the hotel. Arriving at the 
JW Marriott, we were welcomed with a traditional juice drink and provided our room keys along with a credit card authorization form at a private registration area. Our bags were quickly delivered to our rooms just a few minutes later. Knowing the 30lb limit on the baggage to the Galapagos, we opted to pack a "ship" bag which weighs exactly 30lbs plus a "hotel" bag which contains cloths for just the land portion of the trip and will be left at the Marriott while we are aboard the Xpedition.
The hotel is located in what is called the "tourist" area in La Mariscal District. We had arrived early enough to do some exploring and hopefully find a casual restaurant for snacks and cocktails. After discussing our ventures with the hotel Concierge, he convinced us that we should take a taxi to the center of Mariscal and recommended the restaurant "Q". Friday night obviously brings out the party people - the taxi ride was very slow into the district, with nearly bumper to bumper traffic all the way along our 10-12 block route. These Ecuadorian's like their music loud and don't seem to be deterred by the drizzle and cooler temperatures. Finding the restaurant, we enjoyed a great selection of Tapas - shrimp, beef, fried potatoes, sausages, chowder and many other choices. When we'd finished our group decided to walk back to the hotel. We had no problem along the way, but this is certainly not a neighborhood for single travelers or those that want to avoid crowds. The sidewalks and streets were jammed with pedestrians and cars - as bad as rush hour, but at midnight!
Overall, our impression of the JW Marriott is very good. It's obviously a "western" hotel, with plenty of English spoken, it's in a good area of town, and the rooms are comfortable and quiet.
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