Fodor's Expert Review Café Cultura

This place's name sounds like that of a restaurant—and, indeed, the Sunday brunches are a Quito institution—but it is better known as one of Ecuador's premier boutique lodgings. The brilliant bougainvillea over the front gate lets you know that this colonial-style hotel—formerly the Center for Arts and Culture of the French Embassy—is something special. The wood-beamed lobby glows when there's a fire in the stone-trim hearth. A mezzanine above leads to the inn's comfortable guest rooms (some warmed by fireplaces). A popular café off the lobby serves breakfast and lunch. All rooms here are no-smoking.