The following is my letter I sent to the Marriott:

We took some guests down to Quito, Ecuador last week and had a very poor experience at the Marriott hotel in Quito. The following is a brief summary of the major problems, and while my time is very limited, I think it is incredibly important this is put in writing, even if the losses have already occurred. The staff at the hotel was not helpful in resolving issues, and at times rude about the problems.

1. They charged our entire bill of $1742 twice. When we reserved the rooms (4 rooms, 3 nights) we put a credit card on file to hold them, and when we called the hotel to review some details they suggested we prepay since it was a large amounts of rooms and we did not want any problems. My agent went to the hotel in person and paid the entire bill, which we have a receipt for, in early March. While we were there they charged my cc that had been holding the room originally for the entire amount again mistakenly. At first they did not believe a mistake had been made, and until we argued with them persistently, they checked their records and eventually grudgingly and slowly fixed it. We were in their accounting office for over an hour, but this mistake had to be fixed, I could not afford to leave it.
2. They charged extra taxes to my guests, that the hotel said was a “new” tourism tax. I reimbursed my guest for this which cost us $30.00. When we checked in my guests put cc on files for extras, and even those who bought nothing were charged this tax. The hotel said it was a new policy upon check out but never informed us or our guests up front. We argued with them, but it was not worth it. This was separate from the entire bill and original quote which we had in writing and prepaid to avoid situations like these.
3. The charged us $30 .00 for airport pickup. This is the one thing that I am still trying to find in writing, but we may have made a mistake and not gotten it in writing, but we were under the impression was included in our group stay.
4. We were offered a welcome cocktail, but they did not believe us because the person who originally wrote our offer was no longer with them, and we did not have that paperwork with us that evening. They offered us a less desirable substitution of orange juice, which we had no choice to accept, because we had not brought our paperwork that evening to “prove” the issue to them.
5. I was credited only 5 miles to account #, I have faxed paperwork to your offices here in the US, but based on my other experiences, I doubt this will be resolved. The first agent I spoke to laughed at the problem because even he saw how obvious this mistake was, but he like nobody else could fix it, he is my favorite employee so far.

As you can probably tell I am not satisfied with the Marriott, and will not be returning ever in Quito, and I do not know in the US. We are taking another group down to Ecuador in December, and have already made reservations elsewhere. Since we started taking small tour groups down to South America, we expected problems with South American service. As of this point the only major issue we have had with any transportation company, attraction, accommodation, or restaurant in South American was with the Marriott.

By the way, this is the second time I wrote this letter because your website timed out. I hope you understand my concerns. Best, Adam

We stayed here as part of a trip organised by Celebrity Xpedition on the way to the Galapagos Islands.

The hotel is very attractive and we were allocated a lovely room with great views on the 7th floor. It even had a balcony.

As we were tired after the long flights from Uk we had room service which was OK and went to bed. At 12:00 midnight we were woken by the loud thumping sound of music coming from the night club across the road. The sound was coming in through the balcony door which wasn't sound proofed.

We put up with it until 2:30 am when we asked to move rooms! 20 minutes later we were in a different room away from the noise and managed a few hours sleep. The next night was OK but the music was on again.

This is a major problem at the Marriott. Beware of rooms to the right of the hotel as you look at the front. Ours was 705.

Other points: breakfast was good; public areas are light and attractive; the pool is beautiful; the staff helpful (at 2:30 am!).

Stay there but watch which room you get.

My wife and I spent 4 nights in Quito for a short getaway, the Marriott is a great place to stay with a lot of amenities that make you stay pleasant. If you want a more Ecuadorian atmosphere choose another place, if you want plenty of room to roam around , this is it. The pool is great, Ecuador does not have a lot of pool weather, but it was warm and felt great, be careful of the sun, 30 minutes I laid out and was peeling in one week,The Latino Bistro was OK, nothing special, but the Hacienda was great, I had sea bass(outstanding), We are not big eaters and the coffee shop with a pastry was very good in the mornings, we did enjoy that, Now some important items, use the Marriott cabs, cost very little more but worth it,( cab to airport 10.00 dollars for 2) The hotel staff was outstanding, answered all questions and gave us suggestions, vice nice bar , roomy and a lot of TV screens. Rooms nice, large, nice bath, robes, ironing board, safe, comfortable beds. There is nothing to complain about, just a above average hotel with a good price, much cheaper then the same in U.S. One caution, don't walk around in the neighborhood, we got robbed about 300 feet behind and to the side of the hotel on our way back from the large shopping center about 15,20 minute from Hotel( forgot name of shopping center, very popular), not hotel fault for this, you can get robbed in Quito even in front of police station, just be careful, take Marriott cab, After I spent one hour on treadmill walked in lobby with my sweatty clothes and the staff thought I had been running outside told me not to run in neighborhood, dangerous. Took cab for 3 days to sightsee, great driver, he did as much shopping as we did,(Maciricio Sanchez was his name)We used him all three days, he made our trip enjoyable. If I were going to Quito tomorrow I would definitely stay at the Marriott again, you willnot go wrong.

We stayed in Quito for three nights pre and post a Galapagos cruise and wanted somewhere that was central, close to the airport, comfortable and with a nice swimming pool. The JW Marriott fitted the bill. It is the most modern of the international chain hotels in Quito. The rooms are big, well kitted out and comfortable, with vast marble bathrooms including separate shower and toilet cubicle, and a vast bath. The shower had a variable power head . A tea and coffee maker was also provided.

The outdoor swimming pool was wonderful and kept at a constant 90 degrees - the steam could be seen rising off it, and was open from 6am until 11 pm. Perfect for relaxation after a day touring. A good spa too.

There was a choice of restaurants, but the public areas were rather soulful and the coffee shop only adequate for snack type meals with little variety. However, the breakfast buffet was superb.