Hotel Casa Del Aguila

Dear Family and Friends,

On some of our walks to the center of town, Chuck and I have been passing an interesting building for several months now. This week we decided to check it out.

We went inside and found that it is a hotel. From what we could see of it we were impressed. We asked at the desk if we could have a tour. The front desk person said that for security reasons she could not show us the rooms of the hotel. However, she said that she would check with the hotel manager and call us if and when she could give us a tour. I was impressed with her answer. Security is very important and having strangers off the street wander through a hotel would be putting their guests at risk.

The next day we received a call from her saying that her manager had given her permission to take us on a tour of the hotel.

So the following day, on our walk to town, Chuck and I stopped at the hotel to get our tour. I brought my camera because, from what I had seen, I knew that I would want to share it with you.

Two hundred years ago this hotel was a big colonial home. The present owner bought the property and has restored it making it as close as possible to it's original condition. When we saw the building from the street it was nice, but we had no idea how beautiful it was on the inside.

It is not a big hotel, maybe 16 or 17 guest rooms. But that makes this hotel all the more charming.

The first thing you notice when entering is the lovely interior courtyard. It is used as the breakfast area. It has a glass cover three floors up to protect their guests from the elements.

The next picture is a close-up of the fountain in the middle of the courtyard. There were rose petals floating in the water.

Our tour guide, Maria, took us upstairs to a common sitting/reception room. Two hundred years ago it was the living room.

All of the furniture is authentic from the period including the paintings on the wall. The restorer kept as much original as possible so the hardwood floors are the original floors.

Below is a picture of the suite.

And another picture.

The suite was very nice, but I was interested in what the regular rooms looked like as we are not suite people, we are just plain folks.

Well here is a picture of one of the regular rooms.

I really liked that there were a lot of common areas where one could read or relax.

The business center is also such a room.

They even have nice common areas outside. Maria said that if the guests would like, they are happy to serve breakfast anywhere.

The name of this hotel is Casa Del Aguila. Maria told us that the name means House of the Eagles. It turns out that the street, Sucre, where it is located was originally named Calle Aguila.

Now I am not trying to push this hotel. But a lot of people email us and ask for our recommendations of where to stay in Cuenca. We were impressed with what we saw and if we were visiting Cuenca this is a place that we would enjoy staying in. It is located in the historic district only 2 blocks from the very center of town.

This building has only been operated as a hotel since March so it might not be easy to find on the internet. If you are traveling to Cuenca and would be interested in this hotel, you can reach their website by clicking here.

I am not recommending this hotel over any other in Cuenca. There are many nice hotels here, but as I said, after touring this hotel, we would really enjoy staying here.