La Pequeña Casa Pijao — Hotel in Quindío

This was my second stay at Monica Florez' Pequena Casa, this time I came with my partner Mila and we liked it so much we stayed for three weeks! ||We so much enjoyed Monica's company and meeting her great friends in Pijao. She is a pioneer of CittaSlow in Latin America and we followed her example and spent time learning about the Pijao area as slow tourists. We are interested in permaculture, organic food and getting off the beaten track. It was great to find out about coffee production from our new friends. I even planted a few trees! ||My partner is a travelling chef and she did a health food cookery class for local people at Monica's house, which went down very well. There are wonderful fruits and vegetables, and of course best of all organic altitude coffee, but so far Pijao does not have restaurants catering for mostly vegetarian (also pescatarians) like us. I am sure this will develop in time, and I hope it develops slowly and well, like the whole Citta Slow concept. Muchas...

An amazing hostess, an incredible space. If you're looking to party and have a wild night out, look elsewhere. La Pequeña Casa is for the slow and tranquil traveller. The person who is looking for peace among trees and joy among food and good conversation. Monica has converted her childhood home into a retreat for the curious. Amenities include hot shower, towels, included breakfast (simple and amazing), and a direct source of information to anyone and anything in and around Pijao. If Monica tells you to go somewhere for [insert objective here], then you must. She has direct connections to the most personal coffee tours, bird watching tours, as well as intimate knowledge of the area as she grew up there. She is working hard to bring the slow food movement to Columbia and...

I wanted to know Monica because of her commitment and all her efforts to bring Pijao in the Slow Cities network, and I got to stay in her wonderful home. The hotel is in a traditional house from Colombia's coffee zone, and it is beautifully restored and furbished, making you feel at home rather than in a hotel. Pijao is a little gem, a little town with a tranquil lifestyle and surrounded by cofee farms, definitely worth a visit. And Monica is the person who made it possible for the town to be in the Slow Cities network. It was extremely interesting to hear stories about her struggles and her vision of development for her hometown, and she also arranged a coffee...