Papallacta Hot Springs Spa Resort

Posted By : jndst12
There are public hot springs and private ones attached to a hotel and spa. This review is of the private thermal pools. I went on a day trip from Quito, but did not stay overnight in the hotel. There are 4 thermal hot pools varying in temperature and 1 cold plunge. The facility has coed lockers with private changing rooms attached. Bathrooms and showers are separated by gender. The $23 entrance fee includes cloth swim cap, towel, shower gel, shampoo and conditioner. I would recommend bringing flip flops and and a second towel. It was cold and rainy the day I visited, so the hot springs were perfect to warm up. There are not a lot of chairs or chaises to sit on and even fewer under cover. After a few hours in the pools, I had lunch at the hotel’s restaurant. I love good food whether it be prepared by a fancy chef or Abuela cooking traditional food. This was good food. The fresh guava juice was the best. The fresh Trout and shrimp in garlic sauce with sautéed veggies and fried green plantains was grilled just right. The meal was simple but well prepared and so delicious. It was also well priced at $22 including a yummy hot chocolate which I had as my desert. So glad I listened to the reviews and ate here after leaving the thermal baths. Overall a good day trip from Quito to relax.
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Posted On : 2023-11-25

Posted By : 512thomasu
The tour to the hot springs were absolutely amazing. It was a really relaxing day and David shared so many interesting facts during the tour, I can really recommend 😊
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Posted On : 2023-11-01

Posted By : RemoveAllDoubt
Nice location and pools. Excellent weekday jaunt. Served cold squeezed, "cheddar" cheese on store bought round chips for the airport value experience of $ 8.00 "nachos". It's Best to eat outside the premises as even the trout was $10 a plate less and much better quality. I wonder if the coffee is instant?
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Posted On : 2023-02-10

Posted By : ntx9ymv66w
This was an amazing trip! David was a great tour guid and I had so much fun at the thermal pools and also with David. He’s very knowledgeable and gave me a lot of information on our trip to and from the pools. Would recommend highly and thank you for this nice day!
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Posted On : 2023-01-19

Posted By : Lucinda M
The spa pools are lovely. There are five pools of different sizes and water temperatures (hot spring water is cooled with river water to approximately 100 degrees F). There is also a cold, plunge pool, which we did not take advantage of. The spa area is beautifully landscaped with lovely views of the surrounding mountains. The spa includes a restaurant and offers other services such as massages. The spa is about 1.5 hours from Quito and well worth a day's visit.
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Posted On : 2022-08-08

Posted By : mariellemckean
This trip was incredibly beautiful with the snow capped volcanoes, crater lake, biodiversity, cozy ecolodges, adventure sports in Banos, and our knowledgeable guides. We learned so much about Ecuador and got to interact with the landscape on our hikes. I would highly recommend this to anyone who loves to hike and explore new places.
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Posted On : 2022-04-25

Posted By : Exploration710428
My husband and I visited Papallacta Hot Springs with a tour guide, Carolina from Adventure Journeys. She picked us up from our hotel, drove us to the site, hiked the grounds with us, and showed us the hot springs. She was so knowledgeable about the history of the site (and Ecuador, in general), and all of the endangered plants and species we saw together. She made our trip east and enjoyable from start-to-finish, and we learned so much from her!
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Posted On : 2022-04-05

Posted By : Ganaai115
Before getting into the specifics of this tour, I would like to share my overall experience with Adventure Journeys (skip to next paragraph if don't care about this part). Adventure Journeys came highly recommended from a friend who went on their 10-day Galapagos Multisport tour. When we were scheduling the Galapagos trip, we found out quickly what an incredible company they are. Their goal is to provide their clients with best experience through excellent service and tailor to the client's interests and needs. That philosophy started with the booking phase and I really appreciated their dedication since it can be very stressful to plan long trips to counties that you don't speak the primary language. We worked with Nicole during the booking phase, and she was incredibly kind, accommodating, and best of all, very responsive. Because of her excellent service, we decided to schedule a couple of day trips on our extra days in Quito. Moving on to the day trip experience, my husband and I travelled for about 15 hours the previous day and we needed a mild and relaxing activities to reset on our second day in Ecuador. This day trip to Papallacta and being able to soak in the hot springs was exactly what we needed. The ~1.5 hr drive to Papallacta was scenic and we learned about Ecuador's history, geography, and culture from our guide, Juan, as we drove. We went for a brief hike, soaked in the hot springs, had delicious authentic Ecuadorian lunch (recommended by Juan), and stopped at a scenic overpass to view the Laguna Papallacta. General recommendations, the hike was pretty quick, if you like longer hikes, I would encourage you to ask your tour guide if you can do a longer hike. Remember, this company is all about doing what you want to do and give you the best experience so don't be shy to ask. For the hot springs, there are public hot springs which is included in this day tour and then there are private hot springs connected to the spa which costs slightly more. We paid for the difference ($26) which I believe was totally worth it. Finally, I don't know who your tour guide will be but our guide, Juan was incredible. He was kind, very knowledgeable, helpful, and just so pleasant to spend time with. My husband is pretty introverted so a long drive with someone unfamiliar is one of his dislikes but he had a wonderful time! The hot spring spa staff spoke English very well so it's possible to do a day trip like this yourself but booking through a trusted tour company was great for us because of the convivence of having someone pick you up at your hotel, speak with the local community members was great, and most importantly, we felt incredible safe the whole time.
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Posted On : 2022-03-25

Posted By : jontel28
Oh my goodness, what a fantastic day. First, My tour guide, Jen, was absolutely incredible—a true professional. She arrived at the meet-up location early, and as we drove to Papallacta, she answered many questions about Quito. I have never met a more knowledgeable tour guide. In addition, Jen knew about every PLANT at Papallacta. She is a walking book of knowledge. I must say that Jen was always available and allowed me to have alone time. I even took a nap in the car on the way back. And she played my favorite song, Beseme Mucho. Jen was absolutely amazing. If you go on this experience, please ask for Jen. You must do Papallacta; it is so relaxing. The hot springs take away your stress. I spent 4 hours in the hot springs. There are 15 different pools. The food was amazing. I had the fish. The nature walk was what I need to to further relax. We could not see the lagoon because of the fog; we were on a mountain. TIP: This tour company will send you a check list of items to bring, please please follow that check list. Other than that, Enjoy. Dios mío, qué día tan fantástico. Primero, mi guía turística, Jen, fue absolutamente increíble, una verdadera profesional. Llegó temprano al lugar de reunión y, mientras conducíamos a Papallacta, respondió muchas preguntas sobre Quito. Nunca he conocido a un guía turístico más informado. Además, Jen conocía todas las PLANTAS de Papallacta. Ella es un libro andante de conocimiento. Debo decir que Jen siempre estuvo disponible y me permitió tener tiempo a solas. Incluso tomé una siesta en el auto en el camino de regreso. Y tocó mi canción favorita, Beseme Mucho. Jen fue absolutamente increíble. Si realiza esta experiencia, pregunte por Jen. Debes hacer Papallacta; es tan relajante Las aguas termales te quitan el estrés. Pasé 4 horas en las aguas termales. Hay 15 piscinas diferentes. La comida estaba increible. Tuve el pescado. El paseo por la naturaleza era lo que necesitaba para relajarme aún más. No pudimos ver la laguna por la niebla; estábamos en una montaña. CONSEJO: Esta compañía de viajes le enviará una lista de verificación de los artículos que debe traer, siga esa lista de verificación. Aparte de eso, disfruta.
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Posted On : 2023-02-24

Posted By : Globetrotter1123
Der Pool in Mitten aller Fenster und Türen, die Zimmer Fenster am Gang wo alle Gäste vorbei gehen, die Zimmer so winzig, dass man kaum einen Koffer neben dem Bett öffnen kann und sich noch im Zimmer bewegen kann, mittelmässiger Service, das Restaurant gleicht einem riesigen Speisesaal... der Holzgang an den Zimmern erzeugt einen Geräuschpegel, bei dem man definitiv nicht schlafen kann..
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Posted On : 2023-02-14