Casa Vida Verde

Location:
Gonzalo Noriega N39-221 y Gaspar de Villaroel
Northern Quito - the "New Town", Quito, Ecuador

Hotel

V!VA User‘s Description

Casa Vida Verde is an attractive fully furnished residential hostel. It was created to provide a safe and comfortable residence for foreign students, workers and tourists who would like both independence and the opportunity to socialise with others. Nightly and long term stays available. Both English and Spanish are spoken. The hostel has a great view of Quito and the mountains from the roof-top terrace and a huge kitchen with all essential items. All bills are included in the cost of a room, and all cleaning costs are included with the exception of your dish washing, which you are expected to do yourself.

The following facilities are offered: comfortable beds (no bunks), security guards outside 24/7, laundry service (for an extra charge), TV, DVD player and many DVDs, garden, airport pickup, information service and volunteer work information, Spanish lessons arranged and wireless internet. The hostel has 3 large private rooms with bathroom, desk and wardrobe that can sleep 1-2 persons ($14 nightly or $220 monthly), one shared room with 4 beds, a walk-in wardrobe, desk and large bathroom ($4 pp nightly or $90 monthly), a rooftop cabana with a desk, wardrobe and bathroom (for 1-2 persons, $14 nightly or $200 monthly), a private room with an outside bathroom (for 1 person - $7 nightly or $140 monthly) and a single room with a private bathroom for one person ($9 nightly or $165 monthly) 

English Teaching

If you have experience teaching English or a teaching certificate, we can help arrange work. Often we have teachers staying with us and we have contacts with nearby English schools and institutions that are always looking for teachers who can commit for at least a few months. Pay is between $5 and $10 an hour.

This Hotel is: Budget

Hotel Amenities, Services and Facilities Community Kitchen, Laundry Service, Internet Facilities - Charge, Travel Info Desk, Lounge, Book Exchange - Free, Luggage Storage, Non-Smoking Rooms, 24-Hour Hot Water

Getting There:
Near Quicentro Shopping Centre (10 min walk), 10-15 ecovia bus ride from Mariscal Area. Get off at Los Sauces stop near dominos pizza. Walk up Villaroel 3 blocks, Noriega is on the right.

Room Prices:
Lower:$7
Higher:$14
Price Description:Price includes tax

Contact Information:
Phone: 02 2260471
E-mail: info(at)remove-this.vidaverde.com
URL: www.hosteltimes.com

Traveler Reviews of Casa Vida Verde

Comfortable enough

Rating: 75%

I lived in Casa Vida Verde for a couple of months in 2007. I would say that it is pretty good value for money, but that some of the comments listed were true. The cleaning lady was supposed to come once a week, but probably only came a total of 2 or 3 times during my stay. The internet was up and down a lot - though management persisted with fixing it, it is my belief that the bandwidth was not sufficient for 7 computers, which was the main problem. And the kitchen was not well stocked. Still, it was always possible to improvize with the equipment that was there. I found that there was quite a bit of petty note-leaving, but I guess you get that in all shared houses. Overall though, it was a comfortable enough place to live for a couple of months and was on the whole nice and quiet.

By V!VA User, Jun 26, 2008

3/4 of a year!

Rating: 75%

I lived in Casa Vida Verde for approximately nine months between August 2006 and May 2007. I had what was considered by the original manager to be "the best room in the house" and I had to agree. There were great views of Quito from both my room, the rooftop terrace and the kitchen. My room was big with tons of storage space and could have easily accommodated another person. There was plenty of space in the kitchen and in the refrigerators for each person (we each got our own shelf) and, while it's not the classiest kitchen in the world, you get what you pay for as far as hostels and Casa Vida Verde is a great value overall. I spent many nights baking in this kitchen. The things I liked most about this hostel were the quiet atmosphere and the chance to meet other travelers. Parties aren't allowed at this house, which was fine with me, as I was a busy student while I was in Ecuador. Also, I had the opportunity to meet all sorts of interesting people from all around the world and all walks of life which broadened my views immensely. I really liked the location, as it is just a couple of blocks from one of the main bus lines and in what seems like a comparatively safe neighborhood. There aren't a whole lot of restaurants around, but the hostel is within walking distance of three supermarkets. The only complaints I would make about this hostel is that if you are renting a room by the month and have a friend spend the night with you, you are required to pay for them as if they had spent the night in the dorm room (this seems strange, because after living there for awhile, the atmosphere seems as if you are renting a room in a house, not a hotel.) Also, the cleaning lady did not come consistently, so I often ended up cleaning my own room, which I didn't really mind, but felt like it was something we were paying for. As someone mentioned below, we did have ongoing problems with the Internet service in the house but this was not generally the fault of the management. I walked with the manager twice to the phone company when the service was down for a week and the manager had tried calling several times, and we were given the runaround there. A couple of days later we finally managed to get someone from the company to come out to the house, and it turns out that they had to replace one of the phone wires. Unfortunately the concept of customer service (even for utilities) doesn't really exist in Ecuador, which wasn't the fault of the hostel in this case. The shear size of the hostel and the number of people sharing the connection certainly slowed things down, but I can remember few times where I was forced to go to a friend's house. Overall, I had a great experience there, or I wouldn't have stayed there so long. When I come back to Ecuador, they'll be one of the first places I look for a room.

By V!VA User from USA, Dec 14, 2007

Great place!

Rating: 100%

I have no complaints at all... I loved this place because its just like home; clean, everything available, very chill atmosphere, great location and nice people. You feel extremely relaxed in this place!

By V!VA User from Honduras, Dec 14, 2007