Mashpi Lodge

Mashpi is, first of all, a private nature reserve spanning some 3,000 acres in the cloud forest of Ecuador’s interior, a research and conservation project dedicated to preserving one of the world’s most biodiverse landscapes. In this spectacular setting you’d be happy with just about any old hotel, but Mashpi Lodge is not that — this is a very modern and very luxurious lodge, and one with a remarkably small ecological footprint. Glass walls are a crowd-pleasing choice in a place like this, and the rooms and suites make the most of them, offering guests front-row views of the forest floor and the tree canopy. The interiors are modern and more than a little bit luxe, though with rustic accents that refer to the local and indigenous methods of building. The cuisine, naturally, is hyper-local, and there’s an exceedingly tranquil spa that manages to feel both private and open to its surroundings. As pleasant as it is, however, you’ll want to spend more time out and about — Mashpi Lodge offers a wide variety of rainforest explorations, from walking tours to the Dragonfly, an aerial gondola system for observing the forest canopy with a bird’s-eye view.