HOSTERIA DOS CHORRERAS REVISITED

While my brother, Leo and his wife, Carla were visiting in Cuenca, they especially requested to visit the Hosteria Dos Chorreras Restaurant and Inn not far from the entrance to the Cajas National Park.  Their request had been based on an earlier post I had written of this spectacular restaurant of exceptional architectural achievement and landscaping.  If you would like to see the original post and  photos of Dos Chorreras just click on the link below, click on slideshow, and click on the forward arrow, so you can control the speed of viewing each slide:

https://picasaweb.google.com/111741036841400152108/HOSTERIADOSCHORRERAS     


On this trip our friend and driver had one of his friends, Manuel, take us to the restaurant.  On the way, however, Manuel took us on a side trip as we neared the restaurant area to show us the church grounds and church where he, his wife, and two daughters attend Saturday evening mass.  The grounds were attractive, and are known by the name, Capilla y Jardin (Chapel and Garden).  There were various religious icons on display.  Manuel was very proud of his church.  As we walked about the grounds, we viewed some outside wall displays that included plaques and letters of thanks and appreciation to God for those in the parish who had successfully made it to the United States to live and work.  I thought these prayers of appreciation may be unique to this particular church, but I  since have spoken to another friend who was aware of the same custom practiced at another church in Cuenca, so it may be a more common practice than we thought.  You may view the church grounds on the link below, and follow the same modus operendi as in the previous link.


https://plus.google.com/photos/111741036841400152108/albums/5726638190189543297



My purpose for posting again about the beautiful architectural gem, Hosteria Dos Chorrereas was the fact that I thought I had seen all of the rooms in the building from my trip there in November.  However, it didn't take long to discover not only some additional dining rooms, but a bar as well on a lower level.  Last time I also was able to get shots of the interior of some of the cabin rooms, which are housed separately from the main restaurant.  I hoped to show them to my brother and sister-in-law, but the draperies were closed to all of the cabin rooms.  This time, however, I was able to view some of the hotel rooms in the restaurant-inn complex, and those pictures are included.

When Jose Cortez and I visited in November we practically had the entire restaurant to ourselves.  This time, a seminar was being held in one of the upper dining areas, and a bus-load of tourists were on hand as well.  The beautiful gift shop was doing a humming business.  My sister-in-law has some sensational photos of the gift shop.  However, since my brother is as brain-dead as me when it comes to electronics, they haven't figured out how to transfer their photos to me so I can use some of them in these posts.  Nonetheless, there were some photos of the gift shop in the original post above.

What I am especially pleased to report to you is that when Jose and I had dinner in November at Chorrereas, we were not very happy with the meal other than our main entrees.  We shared are disappointment with the manager.  I don't know if other concerns about the meals were expressed as well by other patrons.  I do know that it really felt good to find that management acted on our suggestions.  The manager was sincere when he said they welcomed our comments, and appreciated feedback from their patrons.  He wasn't handing us some public relations b.s. of what he thought we wanted to hear.  The management actually acted on our suggestions!

We had a very good meal.  Not only the entree of trout, which was fine before, but also the sopa de papas was immensely improved.  The broth was now thick and not insipid, and it now included alvocado and a slice of hard boiled egg.  The side dishes were quite good, and the dessert was not only delicious, but came in a larger portion.  The menu is great, because it provides the diner with all the food items in Spanish and their English translation.

So not only do you have a place to visit or spend a night or two of relaxation in natural and architectural splendor, but you also can enjoy a high quality and filling seafood dinner at a reasonable price.  You're welcome to enjoy the additions to the Chorrereas' slide album below, and I consider ourselves extremely fortunate that such a jewel of a place is right in our own backyard of Cuenca.  (Click on the first larger photo and that will allow you to go into slide show mode, and you will find the forward arrow way over to the right:

https://plus.google.com/photos/111741036841400152108/albums/5720318273473267777?authkey=CK67g7Ho-_WiswE