Frequently asked questions

As soon as you have your exact arrival day and you know the length of your stay with us.

Not recommended, but if there is still accommodation available, no problem. You can also call us at short notice to check availability.

Your reservation request is only binding after it has been confirmed by us by e-mail.

If there are no problems with the internet connection in Vilcabamba, you’ll get the answer within a few hours.
Just in case, if you don’t get any response from us after 24 hours , we kindly ask you to write us again.

Breakfast is included in the room rate for stays of 7 nights or more.

We also offer monthly rates, but we ask you to request them personally by e-mail.

We believe in the bond of trust between us and our guests, so we don’t ask anything from you in advance, your word is more than enough.

We only ask you to inform us as early as possible in case of cancellation, so that we can assign your booked rooms to someone else.

The listed prices on our site are per room or cabin. Only the prices for the beds in the dorm room are per Person.

• Children from 0 to 2 years: free of charge
• Children from 3 to 9 years: $3 discount on regular prices
• Children from 10 years: regular price

The room rate includes: Accommodation, fibre optic Wi-Fi, use of hotel facilities with swimming pool, billiards, table tennis, board games, mineral water and hot teas from a dispenser at the restaurant throughout the day… Also free Yoga morning class every day.

Breakfast is available daily from 7:30 until 10:00 o’clock.

Our healthy breakfast costs USD 4.50 per person and includes:

• Fresh fruit salad with homemade yogurt and granola
• Various home-baked bread, margarine, jam
• Fresh tropical fruit juice
• As much tea or coffee from our own cultivation as you like

Extras of your choice such as 2 eggs, german pancake, ham, cheese or organic honey cost $ 1,50 per serving.

Since there are no big buildings throughout our facility, the rooms are located in small houses with a maximum of 4 units. The rooms share a communal terrace with hammocks. So you have direct neighbors. The double beds in the rooms are 1.35 m wide and 2 m long.

The cabins are single-detached small houses with private balcony. Thus here a greater privacy exists. The double beds are “queen size”,  so 1.60 m wide and 2 m long.

In none of our accommodations there are televisions, hair dryers and refrigerators. Wireless Internet access is available in every room.

Official check-in is at 15:00 o`clock. If your room should be ready sooner, of course you can move in immediately.

If not, you may want to leave your luggage with us and enjoy our facilities or explore the valley.

Check-out is at 11:00 o’clock, you have to empty the room till then.

But you are welcome to store your luggage with us and still enjoy your time till your departure.

Also, there is a shower facility, if you come back from a hike or horse ride.

Even though we have not yet had any problems with burglaries, we recommend our guests to leave their travel documents, valuables and large amounts of cash with us at the reception. These will be securely locked in our safe. We are not to be held liable for any loss inside or outside the room.

Room service is not available.

Our tap water is a community project together with our local neighbors. It comes to us directly from the cloud forest of the National Park “Podocarpus”. It is very rich in magnesium and other minerals and very suitable and healthy for drinking.

The mysterious “waters of longevity” flows directly into your room. In case of persistent heavy rainfall the water can get a bit brownish, but this does not affect the water quality.

But in any case, at the restaurant you have a mineral water dispenser at your disposal at any time of the day.

Upon arrival only a key deposit of 20 USD is required.
Accomodation, food, drinks and SPA-services you can pay the day you’ll leave us.

Only organized trips, like horse back riding, must be paid directly to the tour provider.

Unfortunately we can not accept credit cards, because we don’t have a phone land line. In the village you’ll find two ATMs. We recommend to arrive with enough cash.

We accept only cash.

There is no bank in Vilcabamba, only two ATMs of  “Banco de Guayaquil” and “Banco de Austro”. Both machines are filled only once a week.

We recommend you to bring enough cash to Vilcabamba.

Tipping is not included in our prices. There is no tip rule in Ecuador, we recommend to reward good service with a 5-10%. You’ll find a tip box at our front desk.
The money will be fairly distributed among all our employee, so that even the gardeners and caretaker get their share. Each of our team contributes equally to make your stay as pleasant as possible.

Detailed information how you get to Vilcabamba and Izhcayluma you’ll find here.

Unsere Rezeption ist morgens von 7:30 – 12:00 Uhr und nachmittags von 16:00 – 20:00 Uhr besetzt. Eine Anreise zu einem früheren oder späteren Zeitpunkt ist nur nach vorheriger Absprache möglich.

We are located on a hill, 2 km (1,2 miles) above the center of Vilcabamba. It is a 25-minutes walk down to the village. There you will find white pick-up taxis, which will you bring back to us for USD 2 / ride, if you don’t want to walk back uphill.

If you don’t want to walk into the village, we’ll gladly call you a taxi to take you there.

Hours of operation cab companies in Vilcabamba: 7:00 – 21:00 

• Breakfast :   7:00 – 10:00 hrs
• Lunch :       13:00 – 17:00 hrs
• Dinner :      17:30 – 20:30 hrs (Deadline for the last order)

We have an ample selection of vegetarian dishes and a smaller one of vegan dishes.

As much as possible, our cuisine is supplied by local homegrown farmers.

Coffee, honey, various vegetables and fruits come from our own ecological cultivation. Bread, yogurt, muesli and our soya meat are homemade. The milk comes from the neighbor and is brought to us every morning after hand milking. Fresh from the cow into her coffee. The cheese comes from the indigenous people of Saraguro.

Vilcabamba is located at 1600m and our resort complex at 1700m above sea level.

The temperature is mostly constant throughout the year – between 20 and 26 degrees Celsius during the day and between 15 and 19 degrees at night. During the 16 years of our life here in Vilcabamba, we have only twice had a cold snap in which it cooled down to 12 degrees at night. 

The rainy season is from February to April. There is extensive rainfall, but usually not every day and not all day. From May to July is the transition to the dry season, during which there are only sporadic rains.

From August to September is the dry season, during which it is also very windy. From October starts the small rainy season, which lasts about 6 weeks. From mid-November until the end of January is the small summer, with sporadic rains and usually a lot of sun.

There are mosquitoes, but not very many – mainly during the major rainy season. Malaria is not present in Vilcabamba.  You should bring insect repellent , but it is also available in any pharmacy.

At Izhcayluma we have one lovely female Labrador, her name is “Ami”.  She loves to play with kids.

Since we are nestled in a 25 acre tropical garden, there are of course all sorts of insects and other animals. Tarantulas are mostly seen during the rainy season when their burrows are washed over. However, they are harmless and not deadly. There are also snakes and scorpions. However, we have not had a single incident in all these years. There are also opossums (which are often mistaken for rats), rabbits and squirrels.

Since we have extensively reforested our property, bird diversity has quadrupled. Deer and foxes came back too.

• Insect repellent (can be obtained also here in any pharmacy)
• Sunscreen
• hat, sun glasses

We recommend light clothes for the day, but also long-sleeved shirts, long pants and a light jacket for cool nights. For hiking and horse riding you need sturdy shoes. A hat as protection from the bright highland sun is just as useful as a pair of sunglasses.

Don´t forget swimwear and sandals for the use of our pool facility.

Before purchasing the grounds of Izhcayluma, it was used as pasture. Back then it was quite dry and not much more of vegetation than gras for the cattle. Meanwhile, we have reforested and the resort is a year-round oasis.

As far as possible everything is reused or recycled, a compost is also available. The kitchen waste is given to our neighbors, who feed it to the pigs.

Because of the uneven and large grounds with stairs and paths made of natural stone, our hotel is unfortunately not suitable for wheelchair users and people with mobility difficulties. Our accommodations are not equipped for wheelchairs.

We don´t charge any money for pets, but because of misconduct and not following our house rules of some pet owners, we require a deposit of $50.00, which will be refunded in full if you do not break any of the these rules:

1. UNDER NO CIRCUMSTANCES are any pets allowed to get into the bed. The person with the pet MUST rent a cabin with private balcony and the pet must sleep there (it is covered). Also they are NOT allowed inside the restaurant or the bar.
2. For dogs, they should not bark during your stay.
3. They must not be aggressive or have threatening behavior towards people or other dogs, nor bother other hostel guests at the restaurant. Begging for food for example or sitting under other people tables.
4. Owners are responsible that they do not damage or leave dirty rooms, especially beds.

At the time of check-out we ask for patience so we can do a thorough check of the room to determine if it has failed the forth point.

Smoking is absolutely prohibited in the accommodations, in the wellness area and in the restaurant. However, smoking is allowed in the bar. You are also welcome to smoke outside the rooms, on the terrace or balcony.