We stayed two nights April 10-12, 2023 at Hotel PrincesaToa ($83/night) including breakfast and dinner. It’s on the rim of Quilotoa Lake at 12,800 feet elevation (3,914 meters). The hotel is not warmly reviewed on booking.com but we found it to be just fine. They had a good electric heater on in our large room upon arrival, although the hotel was deserted and it took a few minutes for someone to notice us and show us. There were no formalities of check-in and no request to make payment of cash upon arrival as stated by our reservation. Before leaving we offered to pay and they were very willing to accept quite nonchalantly. We were the only guests for the night.

It’s possible to do this as a drop-by, day-trip from Quito although we determined it was too long a day of bus travel with other tourists. The best clear, sunny and surprisingly warm-feeling part of the day was just before 8 am [temperature 34 degrees (1 celsius)]. It’s quite a magical place to sit by the lake and then find a cup of coffee to warm up. It’s nearly a 21 mile (33 km) hike around the perimeter. We walked just a portion of that and we were deeply satisfied and so glad we came!