International Living's Fast-Track Ecuador Conference

I'm really looking forward to International Living's 2015 Fast-Track Ecuador: Lifestyle and Opportunity Conference in Quito.  There will be the usual panels on immigration, buying real estate, the cost of living in Ecuador, etc.  I'm sure the conference will be informative, but I'm also looking forward to rubbing elbows with other expat wannabes and the Ecuadorian expats who will be in attendance.

IL's conference gurus did a nice job of arranging optional trips to Cuenca, the Pacific coast, cultural and real estate tours before and after the conference.  I arranged for two separate real estate tours on January 30th and 31st.  February 1st through the 4th I will be joining others from the conference for a tour of the coast from Jama to Salinas, including Manta, Canoa, San Lorenzo, Ancon and many points in between.

Traveling by myself, I don't need a fancy hotel to stay in.  I'm sure the Swissotel Quito, location of the conference, will be great but I really prefer simpler, friendlier places.  The folks handling the coastal tour took care of arranging hotel reservations, so I only needed to make bookings for my first two nights.

I'm flying into Guayaquil, picking up my rental car and driving to Salinas for my first real estate tour.  I will stay the first night in Salinas at the Hotel Francisco II hotel, just a block from the malecon.  Trip Advisor readers gave this hotel three and a half stars, so I'm expecting it will be simple, but comfortable.

After my second real estate tour on Saturday, I will drive back to Guayaquil so I can meet up with my coastal tour group the following day.  After reading more Trip Advisor reviews, I chose the Hotel Boutique Orilla del Río.  With only six rooms, this boutique hotel has received rave reviews and is just a few minutes from the airport, where I'll be meeting up with my tour group.

I booked both hotels using my Rocket Miles membership.  Rocket Miles not only gives great rates on a wide range of hotels (comparable to Orbitz, Booking.com, et al), you also earn frequent flyer miles in the loyalty program of your choice.  Use this link Rocket Miles link, and you'll earn 1000 bonus miles with your first booking.  A similar program is Points Hound.  Both sites have agreements with many frequent flyer programs to help you earn bonus miles.  The key to getting the most of such booking sites, is belonging to many loyalty rewards programs. 

If I get time before I leave, I'll try to give more details regarding the conference and various International Living programs.  'Til next time.