Erupcion Art Hotel Banos, Ecuador

By alantvuong on July 4, 2020

After spending 5 nights in July 2015 with 3 friends at Hostal Casa Valladolid in Quito checking out some cool attractions like the TeleferiQo and the Middle of the World, we took a 3 hour ride to Banos. I let my buddies decide on where we would stay and they wanted to pick a cheap hostel that is in a great location. They ended up choosing Erupcion Art Hotel.

The Hostel

Erupcion Art Hotel is actually a hostel and not really wheelchair accessible at all. We didn’t plan on staying at Erupcion very long and was booking everything as we go. This was my only trip travelling like a backpacker with no set plans and just going with the flow. Since 2 of my friends are young and strong, they were willing to choose any cheap hostel that was available last minute whether it was wheelchair accessible or not.

funny sign at the hostel

To get to the reception of the hostel, my 1 buddy had to carry me up separately to the second floor using stairs, since there were no elevators. Our room is on the third floor however. Lucky there was even a sofa on the second floor that my buddy temporarily put me on to catch his breath before getting to the third floor. My other buddy then carried my manual wheelchair afterwards to make it easier.

had to use many stairs to get in and out of our room

Room

The room was quite small and had 2 double bunk beds. Obviously I slept on the lower bed of one of the bunk beds. It was a bit tough for one of my buddies to transfer me in and out of the bed because the upper bed was in the way. It was definitely an interesting experience as that was my only time ever sleeping on a bunk bed. I even slept with my wallet on me because I felt more comfortable doing so.

our room with 4 beds

The bathroom was small but was happy my commode bathroom wheelchair fit over the toilet properly. The shower was not a roll in shower as it had a big step to get in. One of my buddies had to carry the commode inside the shower and position it there, while the other buddy carried me into the shower. It really helped having 2 strong helpers for this trip. The shower head was fixed in the wall and was not removable or hand held.

big step to get into the shower

Amenities

Besides the reception area, there is also the popular Mestizart Ecuadorian Restaurant on the second floor of the building. The restaurant was filled with bright colorful linen and decor and matches perfectly with the hostel and the rest of the building. Prices for the food were quite reasonable and we had breakfast there for about $6 USD each. Guests of the hostel even got 10% off the bill which was a bonus.

10% off Mestizart Ecuadorian Restaurant for guests

There weren’t really any other amenities since this was a budget hostel. There was free wifi and a few communal rooms where backpackers can meet up and hang out. There are board games, cards and even a roof top patio for lots of social gatherings.

hanging out on the second floor

Location

Banos is a small town and Erupcion is right downtown where all the action is. There are a lot of restaurants, shops, other hostels and travel agencies within a few steps. There is also a really neat park plaza called Palomino Flores (Central Park) across the street and even an ATM machine that accepts all major credit cards.

Palomino Flores (Central Park) from the window of Mestizart Ecuadorian Restaurant

Cabellera de la Virgen Waterfall is also just a few minutes from Erupcion and I will write more about that on my next blog post. Follow and like my page for more updates please.

Cabellera de la Virgen Waterfall is also just a few minutes away

Erupcion Art Hotel was not a good hostel for me. We had to settle with the place cause we booked last minute and needed anywhere to sleep. With many many steps to get to the room, I only made it to the third floor because I had 2 strong buddies to help me. There wasn’t even a roll in shower in the bathroom and it was too hard to get into the bed. The only thing great about this hostel was the price and the location.