Lovely setting surrounded by magnificent scenery, small but comfortable rooms, simple and apetizing meals,great guide and caring hosts

Hacienda El Porvenir is a beautiful hacienda, located just 10-15 minutes from the Northern entrance of Cotopaxi National Park. It is surrounded by green fields that is home to cows, llamas and wild horses, tucked in among the park's many volcanoes. This is the perfect spot to explore the park, whether it be climbing to the refuge or top of Cotopaxi, going for a horseback ride or partaking in a zip line tour. The prices for the tours are extremely reasonable (zip line: $14 or a full day guided hike: $55) and the manager, Roberto, extremely helpful in making the arrangements to ensure your stay is excellent. You can explore the area around the hacienda on one of the lovely walking trails that start at the hotel. The best part of El Porvenir is the hacienda itself. The place exudes relaxation, as it provides two common living rooms with blazing fireplaces, where you can enjoy reading a book, drinking a cup of tea or playing one of the many board games they offer. As a solo traveler, I met many other wonderful guests and new friends here.
I opted to stay in the Machai rooms, which are located in the main part of the hacienda. They are basically a room separated by others with a cloth/tent like material. Although they aren't very private (I used my earplugs since another Machai guest was sleeping), since you share these cloth walls with others, I found them to be very comfortable and accomodating. The bathrooms were clean and water was hot. A wonderful breakfast was also included in the price of $35/night. The dinners were also wonderful. They offered a set menu every evening (3 courses for $12), which was always really delicious, or you could order off the a la carte menu.
When I come back to Cotopaxi National Park, I won't stay anywhere else. Great hotel, great staff, great service.
FYI - To get here: Take bus to Machachi (tell driver to alert you) & catch a taxi to the hacienda (30 minutes - $15). Hotel can arrange transfer from/to Machachi, as well.

I stayed at Hacienda El Porvenir for two nights in Oct. 2011.

My experience there was fantastic. My days were relaxing and I was able to energize myself for the rest of my travels!

For budget purposes, I stayed in the Machai area (the main house). The machai's don't have a large amount of privacy, and thankfully my first night only another couple was there and they didn't snore! I had the room right when you come up the stairs and I think it was the most spacious. The machai was clean and warm and the beds were comfortable. The shared bathrooms were also very clean and the water was nice and hot. Because there were only a couple of others in the machai's, I never had to wait to use the washroom.

Marilu was super helpful with my reservation (despite a number of changes!). I ended up meeting her when I first arrived since the driver I had used to get to the hacienda tried to overcharge me and she came out to see what was happening. (Thanks for your help Marilu!!)

During my stay, I went horseback riding which was amazing!! Right near the end, a storm came in and we quickly had to put on our ponchos and for the rest of the afternoon I sat in front of the wonderful fireplace and read. I absolutely loved the common room with the big sofas and the fireplaces. I spent a lot of time there and claimed some of the chairs for my own to be close to the fire. They had some books and magazines and games for those lovely rainy afternoons. They had a number of non-English options too!

Unfortunately I wasn't able to do the zip-line/canopy or go hiking in the National Park, but I still enjoyed my stay and this gives me a reason to come back someday!

The food was super good. A couple of times I had the set menu, but there was so much I couldn't finish, so I also chose from the a la carte menu. The food was always delish and hot. The waitresss, Carmen, was super sweet!

I took the bus back into town and it was quite easy. I would recommend hiring a pick-up truck to take you up to the hacienda since it would be almost impossible to find on your own (at least I think it would be). Just be careful with the pick-up trucks since another group of travellers also had a driver who was a bit sketchy about the fare (should be about 12 USD from Machachi). The walk to the bus stop took about 30 minutes (I was walking really slow); and you'll see a bus shelter. The bus came a bit early, so I would make sure I got there around 10 minutes before it's scheduled to come. You can ask the staff for the bus times and directions.

I really enjoyed my time at El Porvenir and would recommend it to anyone. The area is beautiful, the staff are gracious and the ambiance is superb.

We had a fantastic time visiting the highlands of Ecuador. The Cotopaxi volcano looked magical and Hacienda Porvenir offered wonderful service, great food (I still reminisce over the organic tasty beef they served), enjoyed our time by the fire place drinking canelazo to warm us up. They really took care of us. The horseback ride was very memorable with incredible views of Cotopaxi. On another day we drove up Cotopaxi and actually threw snow balls at each other. Magical place.

If you want to relax in this incredible environment we definitely recommend this place. Keep only in mind two things: 1. It lacks Wi-Fi connectivity and cell coverage 2. It is priced for the tourist market (fantastic experience but not at Ecuador prices)

All in all, you should not miss this opportunity if you're not on a budget. Highly recommended.

Jen & Konrad - White Collar Vagabond