Immersive space bringing Quito’s history, geography, and biodiversity to life through a relief map, augmented reality, and archival photography; a starting point for every
guest’s journey through the city

Casa Gangotena, the boutique luxury hotel set inside a restored early 20th-century mansion overlooking Quito’s historic Plaza San Francisco in Ecuador, launched its new interpretation room, Quito: A City in the Andes. Located steps away from the Loggia on the ground floor, the space is designed as a starting point for guests before they set out to explore the city, whether independently or on a guided tour with Metropolitan Touring‘s expert city guides.

Casa Gangotena occupies a singular position in the world: a city of nearly two and a half million people, perched high in the Andes, sitting almost exactly on the Equator, and recognized as one of the most biodiverse urban regions on the planet. For visitors arriving in Quito, that context is not always easy to grasp at first glance. The new room was created to change that, giving guests a sense of place before they step outside the hotel’s doors.

Orientation Before Exploration

At the heart of the room is a large topographic relief map of the Andean region, showing guests what makes Quito’s location so extraordinary: a city built in a narrow Andean valley, ringed by volcanoes, with the Pacific cloud forests to the west and the Amazon basin to the east. Guests can trace routes they may take during their stay, from the road to Mashpi Lodge to snow-capped peaks like Cotopaxi and Cayambe, and begin to understand how this dramatic geography has shaped the city’s climate, culture, cuisine, and history for thousands of years.

An augmented reality layer brings that geography to life, showing how the high-altitude páramo acts as a natural sponge, feeding the lakes, streams and rivers that have sustained Quito for centuries. Guests can scan icons on the map to unlock short videos on subjects from Cotopaxi and the pre-Hispanic Yumbo traders to Orellana’s accidental discovery of the Amazon River, the 18th-century French Geodesic Mission, and the discovery of oil in Ecuador in the 1970s.

A Timeline Through Quito’s History

Alongside the relief map, a small gallery of artworks and archival images traces Quito’s story chronologically: from the earliest human settlements in the Quito basin around 10,000 BC, through the Quitu-Cara and Inca periods, the Spanish colonial grid that still defines the historic center, and the independence movements that earned Quito its nickname, “Light of America.” The timeline also revisits the 1802 journey of Prussian naturalist Alexander von Humboldt, whose Andean expeditions with Ecuadorian scientists helped shape modern understanding of the natural world, and whose writings later traveled aboard HMS Beagle with a young Charles Darwin.

The final images bring the story into the present, tracing the railway, electricity, and the automobile through to Quito’s new airport and metro system, a city that continues to evolve while holding on to its layered history.

Connecting Guests to the House and the City

Several of the stories told in the room connect directly back to Casa Gangotena itself. Archival photographs show Plaza San Francisco as it once was, the city’s most important open-air trading market since pre-Incan times, and reveal the original two-story house that once stood on the hotel’s site before a fire in 1914 prompted the Gangotena family to build the palatial mansion that guests stay in today. Guests are invited to continue the story with the hotel’s daily 6 pm mansion tour and its Beyond the Journey podcast, and to extend their exploration to nearby cultural landmarks such as the Casa del Alabado Museum, where hotel guests enjoy free entrance, and the hotel’s own rooftop terrace, from which Cayambe, the Panecillo’s winged Virgin, and the slopes of the Battle of Pichincha can all be seen.

Setting the Stage for Discovery

“We built this space because context changes the way you travel. Quito is easy to love, and once guests understand the geography and history behind it, every street, every dish, and every view mean something more,” said Renato Vásconez, Hotel Manager at Casa Gangotena.

Quito: A City in the Andes reflects Casa Gangotena’s long-standing role as more than a place to stay: a starting point for genuine discovery. By giving guests essential context about the city’s geography, biodiversity, and history before they venture out, whether wandering the cobblestone streets of the historic center on their own or joining Metropolitan Touring’s expert guides, the room helps transform exploring Quito from a checklist of sights into a deeper, more contextual journey through one of the world’s most extraordinary cities.

The interpretation room is open to all Casa Gangotena guests and is included in the hotel’s welcome introduction. Coming soon, guests who wish to explore the room independently will also have access to audio guides, allowing  them to discover the space at their own pace.