I (female) visited with two of my grown children. This was our first time in Ecuador, and it was amazing!! I want to start by saying the entire hotel staff was fantastic, from the room attendants to the concierge, we were always taken care of. Daniella, was the best, most amazing help throughout our stay. The rooms are very nice, beds are perfect, the noise was minimal, and breakfast was amazing!!
We arrived late, so Daniella made sure we had dinner taken to our room when we checked in. She arranged a pickup at the airport. The next day, she arranged everything for us from tours to amazing food, a chocolate tasting, and at the hotel, we attended a cooking class. The hotel chef is so fantastic, and the food was super! We learned a lot about authentic Ecuadorian foods. We visited churches, museums, and had the opportunity to meet some of the nicest people ever!
As far as safety goes (that was a concern to me before I arrived), we felt safe the entire time. They have great security at the hotel! Ubers are safe and fairly cheap. There are areas you need to be careful in around Quito, but it's the same for the United States. Just stick with Daniella, and she will take care of everything!! I was also concerned about altitude sickness before I arrived. For us, that wasn't an issue. We made sure to stay hydrated and took things at our own pace. I'm not sure if that's normal, but we had a great time!! You can get some medicine for altitude sickness, but I'm allergic to it (sulfa allergies), also, they have a tea you can drink if it becomes an issue. Thankfully, it never became an issue for us. I will say, my son, who is a geologist, was doing some research at one of the volcanoes, and he had to hike to a much higher altitude and experienced some problems. Mostly, he had to take a lot of breaks to catch his breath, but it wasn't too bad for him at that time either.
I strongly encourage everyone to visit Quito and Casa Gangotena! From the people, to the staff, the views, the city, and the food, you'll have an amazing time!! I plan on visiting again soon, because there are still so many things I want to see. When I do this, it is the only place I will stay at!!
On a side note, from my understanding, all of the certified tour guides take three years of college and study a wide variety of subjects such as ecology, astronomy, and history to become tour guides, so you will learn a lot!! Have fun!!