Quito's Casa Gangotena Introduces Unique Andean Health Treatment

It offers guests an exclusive insight into the Andean world which surrounds this World Heritage-listed city, offering them an “Andean energy-equilibrium restoration treatment” employing herbs, flowers and natural essences, administered by a local expert healer, or limpiadora. Guests enjoy both a connection with the history and culture of the region, and end the treatment feeling revived and revitalized.

According to Andean Cosmovision, a person’s energy can be blocked by “espanto”, literally “fright”. This doesn’t mean people live in a constant state of fear but rather that their energy equilibrium is out of balance. The ritual of the limpia, the treatment devised over generations to redress this imbalance is always performed by older women – “limpiadoras” – whose knowledge has been passed down from mother to daughter.

“As part of Casa Gangotena’s philosophy of playing an integral part in the life of its community, the hotel has developed a relationship with Doña Rosa Lagla, a limpiadora from the nearby market of San Francisco,” says General Manager, Fernando Delgado. “She is highly-skilled and highly-regarded in the city. She has her own booth at the market, along with another half-dozen women, which guests can meet on our Food Tour.”

Doña Rosa comes to the hotel to perform the treatment in the privacy of the guest’s bathroom. “By creating this very-Andean treatment, we are supporting the local community economically and also reinforcing and valuing local traditions, which are very much alive in our barrio (neighborhood),” says Mr. Delgado.

The ritual consists of being flicked with stinging nettles (optional) to improve circulation; rubbed with a mixture of 12 types of bitter herbs; massaged with a blend of flowers, roses and carnations; having an egg covered in aromatic essences follow the outline of the person’s body; and finally being swished with six kinds of sweet herbs bound together as a broom, which leave the patient equally relaxed and invigorated.

Although the skeptical and more rational of the hotel guests – many of whom are en route to the birthplace of Evolution, the Galápagos Islands – might think the treatment is a quaint tradition with no scientific founding, the hotel’s anecdotal evidence of Doña Rosa’s abilities has so far proved very persuasive.

“She has identified known-but-invisible ailments of several guests so far,” says the General Manager. “She finds problems across the body amazingly accurately. It’s uncanny.”

Ultimately, even the skeptical will enjoy the relaxing and energizing properties of the treatment, one of the authentic experiences guests can enjoy at this Quito hotel, whose hospitality was recognised in both Travel + Leisure’s “It List” and Condé Nast Traveler’s “Hot List” for 2012.

The limpia treatment costs $40 (excluding taxes).

Casa Gangotena rates start at $460 including breakfast, Quito-style afternoon coffee snack and taxes. Reservations are being accepted for Casa Gangotena at info@casagangotena.com or visit www.casagangotena.com.

About: Casa Gangotena