It's an issue that Burberry had to confront with its popularity among chavs: the supposedly luxurious can very quickly become ordinary.

But on a whirlwind seven-day tour of Ecuador for the cash rich but time poor, my friend Lottie and I experienced the problem with canapés and roses.

Initially, it was a thrill as titbits of food rained down upon us; but there were so many morsels, that while dining in the charming colonial capital of Quito, I mistook a miniature butter dish for a canapé, and, to the visible horror of fellow diners, attempted to scoff it.

As for the roses, we encountered so many, in bouquet, single-stem and petal form that it sparked a competition to see who could find one in the most ludicrous location.

A rustic resort in Ecuador

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• A rustic resort in Ecuador

I thought I had lost when Lottie discovered a rose wrapped in the belt of a hotel dressing gown. But then I spotted one in the pan of a hotel loo, presumably so that when the wealthy break wind, they literally do produce the smell of roses.

Of course, luxury means different things to different people, and handing over the hassle of organisation to someone else was what this trip was all about.

Sometimes it backfired: under-preparation meant I hadn't found time to so much as look up Ecuador on a map, and when our KLM flight stopped over in Bonaire in the Dutch Antilles, I thought we had arrived.

But when we did finally roll up at Quito, we were offered a local mobile for use, saving us ridiculous phone bills, and were introduced to Santiago, a guide whose previous clients have included Robert De Niro and Michelle Pfeiffer.

His massive knowledge saved hours of reading local travel guides, and he made it clear on arrival that we could do what we wanted, when we wanted, even if it was nothing whatsoever.

I'd panicked on the plane, wondering why we were being sent to mainland Ecuador when everyone said that the whole point of visiting the South American country was to see the Galapagos Islands.

But it turns out that the mainland of Ecuador, so often ignored, like an actress's anonymous sister, has a lot going for it, with everything from active volcanoes to tropical rainforests and stunning beaches.

The two rustic haciendas we stayed in - Hacienda Zuleta, run by a relation of a former Ecuadorian president, and Hacienda San Agustin de Callo, built on the site of an Inca palace - held no more than a handful of other guests.

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