Biohostal Mindo (home made chocolate tour) — Hotel in Mindo

I was able to communicate easily through WhatsApp with Mr. Luis Gomez. I made the reservations as well as asked questions over WhatsApp. My friend and I used a taxi to travel directly to the hostel from Quito. During our stay, there weren’t any other guests, so it was very quiet at the hostel. We did a hear a dog barking one night but otherwise the town was also quiet. Our stay was during the weekdays in the month of May--perhaps this is not a popular time for tourists. We were told that Mindo is frequented by Ecuadorians during the weekends and foreigners during the week. ||Some of the activities we did during our short stay:|• Took a cab ($6) to the tarabita cable car ($5). Ate a filling and tasty snack of maduro con queso at the café.|• Hiked the trail to Cascada Reina. Easy but pretty hike.|o There are many places along the trail which are wet so wear appropriate hiking shoes.|o I did put on plenty of insect repellant but still managed to get 8 itchy bites which showed up a day later.|• Chocolate tour at Yumbos ($10) complete with hot chocolate, brownie, chocolate face mask and a very informative and entertaining tour guide.|• Mariposario or Butterfly Farm (Marisposas de Mindo, $10) where you are allowed to feed the butterflies from your hand (unlike butterfly farms in the United States). |• Punto Ornitológico Mindo ($5) you can feed hummingbirds directly from your hand. This activity was especially fun and it was amazing to get this close to hummingbirds. Some even perch on your hand while feeding. The family filled up our sugar water containers frequently and let us stay as long as we wanted.|• Almuerzo at Mindo Obansi (recommended to us by Luis Gomez)|• Dinner at Crepes-Art||Mr. Gomez and his wife Esperanza were attentive and helpful. Mr. Gomez went over a map of Mindo and pointed out places to see upon our arrival. He also does tours if you need a guide. He was very helpful in getting us taxis to get to places in Mindo. Esperanza cooked two wonderful and filling breakfasts for us. Eating on the deck watching and listening to the birds was very enjoyable. One morning a toucan joined in. There are hammocks on several of the floors to relax in.||We booked two single rooms for our stay. The room was basic but very comfortable and we had plenty of hot water for showers. Esperanza cleaned our room and made our beds during our two-night stay. I believe the king size bed was made of two twin beds pushed together. I did not see blackout curtains in the room, so I recommend bringing eyeshades if you are sensitive to morning light. If you are not seeking luxury accommodations, I think you will be very happy with the Biohostal. The price is very reasonable for a private room and bath along with a full breakfast. I felt at home there. Biohostal has a peaceful and...

I was able to communicate easily through WhatsApp with Mr. Luis Gomez. I made the reservations as well as asked questions over WhatsApp. My friend and I used a taxi to travel directly to the hostel from Quito. During our stay, there weren’t any other guests, so it was very quiet at the hostel. We did a hear a dog barking one night but otherwise the town was also quiet. Our stay was during the weekdays in the month of May--perhaps this is not a popular time for tourists. We were told that Mindo is frequented by Ecuadorians during the weekends and foreigners during the week. ||Some of the activities we did during our short stay:|• Took a cab ($6) to the tarabita cable car ($5). Ate a filling and tasty snack of maduro con queso at the café.|• Hiked the trail to Cascada Reina. Easy but pretty hike.|o There are many places along the trail which are wet so wear appropriate hiking shoes.|o I did put on plenty of insect repellant but still managed to get 8 itchy bites which showed up a day later.|• Chocolate tour at Yumbos ($10) complete with hot chocolate, brownie, chocolate face mask and a very informative and entertaining tour guide.|• Mariposario or Butterfly Farm (Marisposas de Mindo, $10) where you are allowed to feed the butterflies from your hand (unlike butterfly farms in the United States). |• Punto Ornitológico Mindo ($5) you can feed hummingbirds directly from your hand. This activity was especially fun and it was amazing to get this close to hummingbirds. Some even perch on your hand while feeding. The family filled up our sugar water containers frequently and let us stay as long as we wanted.|• Almuerzo at Mindo Obansi (recommended to us by Luis Gomez)|• Dinner at Crepes-Art||Mr. Gomez and his wife Esperanza were attentive and helpful. Mr. Gomez went over a map of Mindo and pointed out places to see upon our arrival. He also does tours if you need a guide. He was very helpful in getting us taxis to get to places in Mindo. Esperanza cooked two wonderful and filling breakfasts for us. Eating on the deck watching and listening to the birds was very enjoyable. One morning a toucan joined in. There are hammocks on several of the floors to relax in.||We booked two single rooms for our stay. The room was basic but very comfortable and we had plenty of hot water for showers. Esperanza cleaned our room and made our beds during our two-night stay. I believe the king size bed was made of two twin beds pushed together. I did not see blackout curtains in the room, so I recommend bringing eyeshades if you are sensitive to morning light. If you are not seeking luxury accommodations, I think you will be very happy with the Biohostal. The price is very reasonable for a private room and bath along with a full breakfast. I felt at home there. Biohostal has a peaceful and...

Our experience in Mindo was great! Most of it was due to our stay at the Biohostal. We were well received to begin with. The following 3 days we stayed there were full of adventures and great memories. The receptionist Miriam was very helpful guiding us in our adventure in Mindo. She arranged for all our excursions and even when we were too late for the taxi to take us to another activity we had arranged, she was glad to accomodate us for another time. On our return to Manta, we were dreading the bus ride back to Sto. Domingo; she explained the advantages of different routes, including a taxi ride which took us almost half the time to the bus station in St. Domingo. She even asked if we had a special request for breakfast since we were on our way out, we thought that was kind and thoughtful of her. The hostal is clean and quiet while being close to the main road where all the shops, buses and restaurants...