Hacienda Cusin

I felt relaxed the whole time, and the property is gorgeous to explore, from the gardens and monastery to the library. The restaurant food, both breakfast and dinner, was among the best I had in Ecuador, and the taxo ice cream is a must. Staff throughout the hotel were on point and super friendly, and the welcome drink was delicious. My only complaint was one of the front desk ladies, who was a bit cold and forgot to call my taxi even though it was pre-arranged in writing, so I missed my flight. The evening lady was great, though.

I used to visit the Hacienda years ago for its beautiful gardens and great Cacao with melted cheese. This time the cocoa was overpriced powder, and the espresso was horrible. The prices were nearly $10 each, so five cocoas came to almost $50. Such a disappointment, with price and quality completely out of balance. The staff were also completely impolite when we commented on it.

The haciënda looks beautiful, but the coffee place served very poor quality products at extremely high prices. We got four cafés/hot chocolates and three tiny cheese cakes, then had to pay 56 dollars. The staff never showed us the menu. The food quality and service were very disappointing overall, not what you'd expect from somewhere that looks so nice outside.

My husband and I came to Ecuador on October 10th to see my father, an expat who was in hospital in Ibarra. The day before, we were told he was dying and probably had only one day left. We'd never been to the country, but I had to catch the next available flight and try to see him one last time. We had no time to prepare or research. We arrived in Quito on Friday night and learned about the protests between Indigenous Ecuadorians and the government over the diesel fuel subsidy. Many highways were closed by roadblocks, and motorized vehicles weren't being allowed through. We were advised to spend the night in Quito and try for Ibarra in daylight, when it would be safer. On Saturday morning we drove from Quito to Cayambe, over an hour away, and hit the first roadblock. We were told there was no way around and we'd have to walk. We found somewhere to leave our rental car and most of our things, packed a few items in a backpack, then walked and walked. We covered about 22KM, or 13.5 miles, in 5-6 hours over mountainous terrain. We weren't prepared, didn't have the right shoes, got caught in an early thunderstorm, and were wet most of the way. By the time we reached San Pablo it was getting dark. We were tired and our feet hurt badly. I was already emotionally drained from worrying about Dad and wondering if I'd get there in time. We asked someone where we could stay for the night, and they pointed us two blocks along. We didn't see anything there, so decided to walk a little farther. Then we saw signs for Hacienda Cusins and figured it might be somewhere to stay. We followed them to an unlocked gate, calling out as we walked in because we couldn't see anyone. The building and garden were beautiful, and everything was quiet. We thought maybe it was closed because of the roadblocks, which probably kept many people from getting there. I sat on the steps while my husband looked for someone. He found the reception area open, and Maria, the wonderful person working there, was looking for me. Eventually I found them, and we were able to get a room. The room was beautiful and nice, and someone came to build a fire in the fireplace. The restaurant was nice and served great food. They said the vegetables I ate were grown in their garden. Another woman brought two hot water bottles to warm our bed. Everyone working there was amazing and took such good care of us. They knew what we were going through and showed us great empathy. The place was absolutely beautiful. I really wished we could have stayed longer under different circumstances and experienced everything they had to offer. It was a hidden gem, and I truly believe God guided us there, especially so I could meet Maria. Like I said, she's an angel sent by God. She went way above and beyond to help us. It was rainy on Sunday morning. After breakfast, Maria walked with us to the store and helped us get what we needed. We knew very little Spanish, and Maria knew English. She even helped arrange a taxi to take us to the next roadblock. She offered to help translate whenever we needed by phone, and we took her up on it. At one point we found a truck dropping someone off at a roadblock in the opposite direction and asked for a ride to the next one. We were about 7-9km from the hospital. We called Maria to translate, and it turned out the driver knew some good side mud roads around the next few roadblocks. He got us all the way to the hospital, saving us hours of walking. I'm running out of space, but we made it to my dad. He improved a little and is still alive.