Mashpi Lodge
Chocó cloud forest, Pichincha, Ecuador
Location
Chocó cloud forest
In the Choco cloud forest, around a hundred kilometres and a three-and-a-half-hour drive northwest of Quito, in a private three-thousand-acre reserve at around nine hundred and fifty metres — a global biodiversity hotspot.
Transfer
A Quito transfer
Around a three-and-a-half-hour drive northwest of Quito, down into the Choco cloud forest — the descent from the Andes part of the journey.
Villas
24 rooms
Twenty-four rooms across three floors with floor-to-ceiling windows that look straight into the canopy, from around twenty-one square metres — the lodge holding a maximum of forty-seven guests, deep in a three-thousand-acre reserve.
Best For
Who it suits
Couples and nature-and-adventure travellers wanting the cloud forest — a design monolith built without felling a tree, the two-kilometre Dragonfly canopy gondola, all-inclusive guided expeditions and resident biologists, in a private three-thousand-acre reserve.
Board Basis
All-inclusive
All-inclusive of meals and naturalist-guided excursions and activities, with one night the minimum and two or more advised — a two-storey dining room of gourmet cooking on local forest ingredients.
Overview
A design-icon lodge in the Chocó cloud forest
Mashpi Lodge is a design-led eco-luxury lodge in Ecuador's Choco cloud forest — a recycled-steel-and-glass monolith built on a former timber-mill site without felling a tree, about three and a half hours northwest of Quito in a private three-thousand-acre reserve at around nine hundred and fifty metres, a global biodiversity hotspot. Twenty-four rooms across three floors carry floor-to-ceiling windows that look from the ground straight into the canopy, from around twenty-one square metres, with the lodge holding a maximum of forty-seven guests. The Dragonfly canopy gondola runs two kilometres through the treetops, a Sky Bike pedals across the forest and an eighty-five-foot observation tower rises above it, while an in-house research centre keeps resident biologists and the reserve shelters hundreds of bird species, monkeys and pumas. A two-storey dining room plates gourmet cooking on local forest ingredients, and a Life Center adds massage, a yoga deck, a jacuzzi and an open-air hot tub in the trees. Stays are all-inclusive of meals and naturalist-guided expeditions, with one night the minimum and two or more advised — made for couples and nature-and-adventure travellers who want to live inside the cloud forest, a short, dramatic descent from the Andes into one of the most biodiverse corners of the planet.
Accommodation
Rooms & suites
Twenty-four rooms across three floors carry floor-to-ceiling windows that look from the ground straight into the canopy, from around twenty-one square metres, with the lodge holding a maximum of forty-seven guests. The recycled-steel-and-glass building was raised on a former timber-mill site without felling a tree, deep in the Choco cloud forest.
Entry
Wawa Room
Sleeps one. Around 21 square metres with cloud-forest views; can adjoin a Wayra.
21 sqmSingle
Standard
Wayra Room
Sleeps two. Around 34 square metres with floor-to-ceiling windows from ground to canopy; interconnects.
34 sqmForest view
Top
Yaku Suite
Sleeps two. Around 46 square metres with a Philippe Starck bathtub with a view and twin sinks, over the cloud forest.
46 sqmTop suite
Food & Drink
Dining
A two-storey dining room plates gourmet cooking on local forest ingredients, with a bar for after the canopy, and meals folded into the all-inclusive rate. It is a kitchen drawn from the cloud forest around it, the dining part of the immersion.
Signature
The dining room
The dining room, two-storey, gourmet, on local forest ingredients.
All-inclusive
All-inclusive
All-inclusive, meals and guided excursions.
Bar
The bar
The bar, after the canopy.
Wellbeing
Life Center
A Life Center adds massage, a yoga deck, a jacuzzi and an open-air hot tub set among the trees, with in-house biologists at a research centre nearby. Wellness here is the forest itself, taken between guided expeditions deep in the reserve.
Life Center
The Life Center, massage and yoga.
An open-air hot tub
An open-air hot tub, in the forest.
In-house biologists
In-house biologists, at a research centre.
Activities & Experiences
Signature Experiences
The canopy, the wildlife and the forest define a stay — ride the two-kilometre Dragonfly gondola through the treetops, pedal the Sky Bike across the forest, climb the eighty-five-foot observation tower, and walk with naturalist guides among hundreds of bird species. The reserve shelters monkeys and pumas in its three thousand acres.
The Dragonfly gondola
The Dragonfly gondola, two kilometres through the canopy.
The Sky Bike
The Sky Bike, across the forest.
An 85-ft tower
An eighty-five-foot tower, over the canopy.
Birds & wildlife
Birds and wildlife, hundreds of species.
Naturalist guides
Naturalist guides, all-inclusive.
Getting There
Location & transfers
By road
From Quito
Around a three-and-a-half-hour drive northwest of Quito into the cloud forest.
In the forest
Chocó cloud forest
In a private three-thousand-acre Choco reserve at around nine hundred and fifty metres.
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Good to Know
Good to know
Board basis
- All-inclusive; one night the minimum.
Made for couples
- Made for couples and nature travellers.
Sustainability
- Built without felling a tree, on a former mill site.
Getting there
- A three-and-a-half-hour drive from Quito.
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Dates, party size, villa preference and budget.
Dates & party
Date flexibility
Adults
2
Children
0
Budget & accommodation
Budget per person (flights + hotel)
£4,500
£500£50,000+
Villas Preference
Flights
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