When you arrive at the Madre Tierra Hotel Spa Restaurant in Vilcabamba, Ecuador you immediately feel what is in store as you enter into this magical world famous hotel. As you walk through the tropical gardens, including an orchid garden, past the pool and hammocks, as you take a breath of the pure, fresh air in the near perfect year round temperature, you will feel the tranquil and harmonious energy of this unique location. When you enter the artisan-decorated, rustic restaurant with chandeliers, roses and candles, and you are handed your first glass of special freshly-made organic horchata (that the old people of this Valley of Longevity drink,) you know you’ve finally landed in paradise, can at long last relax, renew, revivify. Many say it’s a life-altering experience…and some even cancel the remainder of their trip to stay longer. You’ll look forward all day to the next delicious homemade, organic meal…with the full course breakfasts and dinners included with your room courtesy of the owner, and you will love the typical full course “workers lunch” or the specialties in the extensive luncheon menú. Start your day with a wonderful full course breakfast, including the daily freshly baked breads and granola, fresh organic fruit swimming in kefir (similar to yogurt, using an original culture from Russia), followed by the special and different main breakfast dish each day (the eggs are truly free range), always including the fresh out-of-the-garden coffee and tea and horchata, available free all day. The lunch menú can be served in the restaurant, at the pool bar, on the viewing deck or in your room. And wait’ll you experience the most amazingly delicious full course dinner, beginning with a superb soup and fresh baked bread with homemade famous hummus. This leads to your fresh out-of-the-garden salad and some of the most delicious gourmet vegetarian and/or chicken, fish or meat dishes you’ve ever eaten. Each dinner is followed with special homemade dessert from the Madre Tierra, and our original Madre Tierra sugar cane cocktail, with organic popcorn, coffee or tea and you can order your choice of wonderful wines, beer, and drinks from the bar as well. You may want to just relax in your room or on a hammock during this experience, between meals and massage treatments or just read, write, think, meditate, be oh so romantic or wonderfully alone or meet interesting world travelers. You may want to take an easy walk, or hike, or horseback ride, tour, or…do nothing. You can hike or horseback ride numerous trails or into the village, or to the sacred El Mandango Mountain and/or the Podocarpus National Park, birdwatch, wander through the gardens, sit by the pool or on the viewing deck, tour surrounding areas including nearby villages or wonderful Loja (founded 1548), or just sit in the jacuzzi and then experience the best spa treatments all day in the tranquil cave-like spa, clear your brain and detoxify your body, get in touch with your spirit and nature, or sleep deeply in the negative ions. Many say the spa treatments at the Madre Tierra are the best in Latin America…and they are inexpensive and half price for our Madre Tierra guests. There is Internet in the lobby (or you can use your laptop in your room) and there is a book exchange/library. If you just can’t live without it, there is DirecTV in the pool and Conference Room areas; hairdryers and cell phones upon request, laundry services, and, last but not least, the most wonderful staff/family whom you will love and who will respect your quiet privacy yet they are there to take wonderful care of you.

Charming, cozy and comfortable, every room is different with its own unique character, filled with interesting details, artifacts, and beautiful colors. Rooms are scattered up the mountainside, nestled among gardens and hammocks, all with 24 hours of pure (when’s the last time you drank water straight from the faucet?) and hot water. There are incredibly beautiful romantic suites, private rooms, with a few shared rooms and “dorms” or family rooms, most with private bathrooms, and all bathrooms are unusually beautiful. The magical, restful ambience in the extraordinarily high negative (healing) ions environment combined with spectacular views including of the sacred El Mandango and Andes mountains, beautiful gardens, including the orchid garden and the old peoples’ display of their medicinal plants and herbs, the village… all under the spectacular skies of our vast cosmos with stars you’ll literally feel you can touch…the Madre Tierra is just too wonderful for words.

The Conference Room caters to meetings and conferences, seminars, movies, theater productions, exercise/yoga, dance (it’s a real ballroom dance floor), events, and has special acoustics because of the two specially designed domes. This, nature Herself and the viewing deck, are simply beautiful, magical locations for all kinds of special meetings, gatherings, weddings, receptions, and special events of all kinds.

There are so many reasons for why the Madre Tierra has been nominated as one of the top four hotels and spas in Ecuador by World Travel Awards, London (voted by international travel agents) again this year for the second time in a row, and is selected by Exclusive Hotels & Haciendas of Ecuador to be the only Exclusive Hotel from Vilcabamba to Loja.

Integrity requires we share with you the one problem you will almost certainly have to face...in all likelihood, you will never want to leave.