Staying at the Secret Garden Cotopaxi in 2025 – Is It Worth It?

Secret Garden Cotopaxi is one of the most famous hostels in Ecuador. It even brands itself as “Paradise on Earth”! (their words, not ours)

But is it ACTUALLY paradise on Earth?? Or is it a bit overrated?

Located right outside of Cotopaxi National Park, Secret Garden is very popular with travelers. The hostel is located about 60 minutes from Machachi, and has no internet or cell service. The food is included in the “experience”, and every day the hostel organizes tours into and around the national park.

Right now, the “experience” starts at $110 for the 3 days 2 nights package.

There is also a Secret Garden Hostel in Quito, where many travelers stay before taking the private shuttle that leaves from Secret Garden Quito to Cotopaxi, making it super convenient for those who need to spend a few days in Quito before heading out. 

We stayed at the Secret Garden Cotopaxi for the most popular package (3 days 2 nights). Our goal with this post is to provide a comprehensive review of this place, so you can have all the information you need to decide if this experience is right for you. There were a bunch of little details about this hostel we didn’t quite expect before we got here. Our goal is to write the review we wish we could have read before coming.

The Secret Garden Cotopaxi – Is It Worth It?

Secret Garden is a very social place. Since there is no internet or cell service near the hostel, everyone hangs out in the main cabin where there are a bunch of large tables and couches by a fire place. It is very easy to meet people as everyone here is very social. If you are looking for a social way to experience Cotopaxi, this is definitely the place. 

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NOTE: If you are nervous about being completely disconnected from society, there are two times a day that the hostel “turns on” the wifi in one specific area for the guests. It is from 10-11am and 6-7pm every day. Kelsey tried the WiFi during our last day from 10-11am and said it was pretty good only for a few minutes then didn’t work well. Definitely don’t rely on this for any zoom calls or such. You also have to stand in their outdoor garage to even get a good signal. 

Cost – The Secret Garden Cotopaxi

We stayed in a Private Cabana for 3 days / 2 nights. The 3 days / 2 night package is by far the most common one. We paid $170 per person or $340 total between us.

If you want to stay in the Mixed Dorm (8-10 beds) the prices start from $110 for the 3 days / 2 nights.

🚗 We recommend to rent a car through Discover Cars. Book your rental car here!

As of writing this blog, you can stay 4 days / 3 nights for a discount on the third night. Click here to see the complete pricing of each of the accommodation options and deals.

Food

The food is ok. Quite overrated in our opinion. Some of the meals do not have any meat in them, and we were not aware of this before-hand. It seems like they cater to vegetarians/vegans more here because they know everyone will be able to eat the meals if they don’t have meat. You’re stuck with what they give you here and there are no additional options. Dinner comes with dessert afterwards as well which was pretty good.

They really hype up the unlimited banana bread at this place, but unfortunately … you’re not gonna want unlimited banana bread. It’s not very appetizing.

The best part about the food is just the community it creates. There is snack at 5 PM and then dinner at 7 PM and most people sit at the tables from 5 PM – 10 PM enjoying the food / drinking / playing games.

🏨 View all your hotel options in Quito here!

Rooms

This place can accommodate up to 80 people, which is a lot of people for the space. Weekends are much more crowded than weekdays. There is a combination of private rooms and dorm rooms, and there are plenty of solo travelers as well as couples in this place as a result.

We met a bunch of couples and became very good friends with them during our time here. Don’t think that because it is a hostel there will just be a bunch of 18-22 year old European travelers. Because the hostel is so famous and offers a wide variety of room choices, there’s a large age range. Plenty of people in their 30’s and 40’s.

We stayed in a Private Cabana which was … just fine. Nothing special, but not bad either. It was two floors with the bed on the second floor and then the bathroom/shower/couch on the first floor. There is no heat, but there is a wood-burning fireplace which someone from the hostel comes by to start every night at 7 PM. It is then up to you to keep it going during the night time.

➡️ Read: 8 Things to Do in Banos, Ecuador 🇪🇨

You should know that it’s pretty cold in the Cabanas. It can get warm with the fireplace going, but this is only going to be burning from 7 PM until about when you go to bed. In the morning it will not be going and it will be quite cold in the Cabana. (unless you wake up every hour while you are sleeping to add logs to the fire)

The other private room options are the “Hobbit Homes” and the “Bird Houses”. The most important thing to note about these two accommodations is that they do not provide a private bathroom so you are going to have to walk outside of your room (in the freezing cold) to go to the toilet.

Some of our friends staying in these accommodations said they ended up just peeing in a bush outside their room because it was too much of a hassle to walk in the wet cold to the bathroom. Keep this in mind when making your selection.

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Tours at The Secret Garden Cotopaxi

Here we will give you a summary of the tours that are included with the 3 Days 2 Nights package, and the other ones that you can add on your final day.

Day 1 – Hike to Waterfall along a river

When you arrive, you immediately have lunch, then go on a hike to a waterfall.

This is about a 2 hour hike round-trip. It is very muddy and you will be trekking through the river multiple times. They provide rain boots. The hike is quite difficult at times, as you will be walking along rocks in the river or doing difficult climbs alongside the river. We would consider this hike moderate. 

Day 2 – Pasochoa Mountain

This is a moderate to difficult hike of 6-7 hours round trip. You will gain some serious altitude hiking up Pasochoa (on top of the altitude you already have by being at Cotopaxi National Park), and will no doubt encounter a lot of mud/rain/steep hills.

The hostel will pack you a snack for the hike. When we did this hike the surrounding landscapes were very cloudy and foggy and you couldn’t really see anything, which was pretty disappointing. From what we hear, this is very common. 

It’s important to note that this is also the case at The Secret Garden Hostel. The surrounding landscapes are almost always very cloudy and you probably won’t be able to see Cotopaxi. We were here for 3 days and never got a decent view of Cotopaxi, as the clouds were always impairing our view. 

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Day 3 – You Choose Your Activity – Leave at 3 PM

Here is link to their page where you can see the other tours/activities offered. Most people we knew used their third/final day to do the horseback riding around the mountain or hike to the basecamp and mountain bike down.

There are also other hikes similar to Pasochoa that go to surrounding mountains which you can do. If you are planning on actually summiting Cotopaxi, we highly recommend you spend your days going on these mountain hikes to acclimate to the altitude.

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The Secret Garden Cotopaxi – Other Things at the Property

• There is an outdoor gym with a pull up bar, rings, dip bars, free weights, etc. This is pretty cool and good to know. I couldn’t do much though as breathing was really hard for me here. (you are very high up) I was out of breath after just a few pull ups. 
• There is a “jacuzzi”, which gets quite hot and is very nice. The jacuzzi is quite small and takes a while to heat up, but once it gets hot it is pretty hot.
• You can feed banana peels to the llamas right outside of Secret Garden. This is quite the experience.
• There is a nice yoga room with mats and a wooden floor.

• The Secret Garden Cotopaxi has a bunch of classic ponchos you can borrow (for free) if you are cold. Coming from the heat & humidity of Colombia, we put these to use.

• There are many hammocks, tables, and spots to hang out and relax in. In the main cabin there are plenty of board and card games, as well as a nice fire place with couches around the perimeter.  

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How to Get To The Secret Garden Cotopaxi

From Quito

Transportation from Secret Garden Quito is included in the price. It’s about a 2 hour ride, with the last 45 minutes or so being very bumpy on gravel and rocky roads. Be prepared for this. 

From Banos

You will have to get yourself to Machachi, where the van will pick you up and bring you to Secret Garden Cotopaxi. In our case, we took the public bus from Banos at 7 AM and got to Machachi around 10:30 AM. The van then came a little after 11 AM and we arrived at Secret Garden Cotopaxi around 12:30 PM. 

Is It Worth It? Our Opinion

We broke this section in two parts, as the answer to this question really depends on what you are looking for. For us, the biggest downfall of this place was definitely the food. Multiple meals didn’t include any meat, and it really felt like they were catering the place towards vegetarians/vegans. This is perfectly fine, but we wish we would’ve known this beforehand.

🏨 View all your hotel options in Banos here!

If you’re a Solo Traveler 🙋‍♀️ 💁‍♂️

Definitely worth it. Community at this hostel is amazing, and it’s so easy to meet people. It’s very hard to tour Cotopaxi without a car, and the tours at this place allow you to see a lot of the area without having to rent a car.

The food is decent, the transportation to and from Quito is convenient. The dorms are nice and heated. The staff are nice. Definitely good value if you are a solo traveler. 

➡️ Read: 1 Day in Quito 🇪🇨

If you’re a couple/group 👫 👬

It was worth it for us because we made a lot of friends and the community was great. If you have a car, you could definitely do Cotopaxi more efficiently by staying at one of the Hacienda’s near the park for a cheaper price and get better food / more freedom to do what you want.

If you’re short on time and have a car, we recommend staying at an Hacienda for a more local experience. Secret Garden is BIG (80 guests when full) and as a result you don’t really get to know the staff. (Also a lot of the staff are volunteers from other countries)

You could definitely do Cotopaxi for cheaper and have more freedom to get better food and get to know a local Hacienda for less money.

Overall, the Secret Garden Cotopaxi was a great experience for us. ✨ 🦋

The highlights were the great community and the tours.

The lowlights were the crowds (there are a lot of people at this place) and the food. The food could definitely be improved.