Hotel Carlota

The UNESCO-protected heart of Quito, Ecuador is spectacular enough that it hasn’t exactly suffered from its historical lack of cutting-edge design hotels. But with the advent of Carlota, it’s clear what we were missing: here a century-old landmark building is brought to life by contemporary architecture and transformed into a thoroughly modern boutique hotel, where classic mansion style and cutting-edge art and design combine to create a uniquely memorable hotel.

It’s named for owner Renato Solines’s grandmother, who moved in in the Sixties; this personal connection might have made it tempting to leave everything as it was, but Solines’s wife, architect Veronica Reed, took liberties with the structure and its style, tempering its lushness with hard-edged industrial gestures and modernist-inspired geometries.

Rooms vary widely, as is typical of heritage properties, from the compact Standard Simple all the way to the expansive suites and the top-of-the-line Loft — all of them combining arresting visuals and boutique comforts. And while a hotel of this small size can’t always be counted on for nightlife, Carlota has both a bistro, serving contemporary locally sourced fare, and a rooftop bar, from which you can survey the unique geography of Quito’s cityscape.