Finding accommodations in Chile was a bit tricky given our lack of spanish speaking skills and booking by internet wasn't reliable except in Santiago. We ended up in some really nice places and some not so nice places. At this time of year, we did not have trouble with availability but some of the hostels in Patagonia were shutting down for the winter so choice was becoming more limited. In general we did not stay at super budget accommodation but more middle of the road places geared towards couples. Also, hostals with kitchens were not too common so we sometimes compromised on quality, location, or price in order to cook our own meals. As you'll read below, hot water in the showers was hit or miss. WIFI internet was theoretically available just about everywhere but often was not working (for example in Pucón, it didn't work on rainy days). About halfway through our trip, we stumbled on a pamphlet for HoLa hostels (all over South America) and in general these were much better than those in the Lonely Planet Chile guide book and more of them had kitchens.
Santiago: We spent the first 6 nights of our trip at the Ameristar Apart-Hotel. We had a super clean, fully-equipped apartment with very helpful staff. We were back in Santiago for two other nights on separate occasions. For the first one, we stayed at La Princesa Insolente which had the typical hostel party atmosphere and a full kitchen. The downside was a mold and mildew infested bathroom although it did have a very nice shower with hot water. For our final night in Santiago before heading home we stayed at the Hostal Ventana Sur. This was an excellent choice offering BBQ on Friday evenings with nice rooms in a very quiet neighbourhood and very helpful and friendly owner. No problems with the bathroom here.
Punta Arenas: We were here twice. The first time, for one night, we stayed at Hostal del Rey. We would not recommend it - it is cramped and on a street with a surprising amount of noisy overnight traffic considering the small size of the street. On our second pass through Punta Arenas, we stayed for 3 nights at Hostal de la Avenida. This was clean with very good breakfast but did allow smoking in the rooms and our neighbour was a heavy smoker. Our room was fine but the hallway stank. Smoking seems to be unavoidable in Punta Arenas though and this was definitely the better choice of the two hostels that we stayed at in Punta Arenas.
Puerto Natales: We had two nights here at Erratic Rock II - one night before our Torres del Paine trip and we liked it so much that we came back at the end of the hike. This hostel is dedicated to couples and has rooms off a main pathway sort of like a motel without cars and with the motel extending away from the street rather than along it. It was very quiet, very clean, had very friendly and helpful staff and breakfast included fresh fruit and yoghurt in addition to the usual fare. Also, the bathrooms had tubs (albeit small ones) which was great for a soak after the long hike. We highly recommend this hostel. One note though - the phone number printed in the Lonely Planet is wrong by one digit and you'll get an understandably cheesed off woman on the other end of the line telling you that this is not a hostel! We're not putting the number here in case it changes - use your google skills.
El Calafate: We also stayed here on two occasions. The first was at Las Cabanitas for two nights. This is part regular hostel and part small A-frame cabins with a double bed loft and a single bed on the ground floor. We were in one of the cabins and it was quite nice. The bathroom water took a very long time to get warm and never really reached hot. The owner here was extremely friendly and booked our tour to Perito Moreno Glacier for us. On our second stay in El Calafate, we arrived late in the evening and left on an early bus the following morning so really only needed place to crash. We stayed in bunks at Hostal Buenos Aires which is a typical hostel and was fine for our purposes.
El Chaltén: We arrived by bus in the morning and wanted to immediately head out on our hike. The staff at Hostal Condor de Los Andes (Hostelling International affiliated) stored our baggage for us and we headed out on the trail. After the hike, we stayed here for one night in a double room with a nice bathroom with hot shower. They had a kitchen so we were able to make our own food (breakfast was available for purchase but we got our own). Our night there was memorable in particular because there was a massive windstorm which caused the power to go out in the entire town but it was quite a nice place to stay.
Castro on Isla Grande Chiloé: We arrived fairly late and stayed at Hostal Central for one night. We were the only people there because by this time (April 30th) it was low season and there were hardly any tourists left in town. The hostel had no heating and certainly no hot showers. It felt colder inside than out and we could see our breath in the dining room at breakfast. Breakfast was minimalist (bread and jam and coffee or tea). We suspect that the experience here might have been different in high season.
Chonchi: We stayed at Esmerelda by the Sea in a double room for the nights before and after our hike in Parque Nacional Chiloé. The accommodations were basic with no breakfast but cheap (also no hot water). The owner is a native English speaker (Canadian or American but not sure which) who is quite familiar with the local area and gave us tips the hike.
Valdivia: We stayed at Hostel Bosque Nativo for two nights. This is a fantastic hostel with a great kitchen. This is where we discovered the HoLa hostel pamphlet and began using it as our list of preferred hostels. Each room at Bosque Nativo is panelled with a different type of local wood and emphasizes environmentally friendly practices such as energy conservation through use of CFL bulbs and turning off equipment when not in use and water conservation by posting signs reminding guests not to waste water. This is a general goal of the HoLa hostels but Bosque Nativo was the best of the ones where we stayed at actually putting it into practice. We thoroughly enjoyed our stay here.
Pucón: We stayed at Hostal Donde Egidio for two nights separated by our hiking trip in Huerquehue park. We arrived much later than anticipated because of a transportation hiccup but the owner/staff was waiting for us when we finally did arrive. He was very energetic and friendly and told us where to catch the bus to Parque Nacional Huerquehue at 8:30 the next morning but assured us that he would be there to make sure we got where we needed to go. The next morning breakfast was prepared for us but there was no sign of any staff. So, we left our excess luggage for storage with a note and the money for the previous night's stay and hopped on the bus hoping for the best. Turned out all right when we returned 4 days later so we stayed another night. The hostel itself was very nice with a decent kitchen but the water in the bathroom was lukewarm at best.
San Pedro de Atacama: We experienced the typical revolving door hostelling that occurs in San Pedro - everyone changes hostels frequently because of either bad quality, non-honouring of reservations, or lack of availability. We stayed three nights in three different hostels. The first, Residencial Vilacoyo, did not honour our reservation for a double room so we were left with singles rather late at night so we couldn't go elsewhere. The rooms were very basic and it had an extremely small, very disorganized kitchenette. The next day, we went searching for an alternative. We wanted to stay at Campo Base but they had no room for us for that night. We stayed instead at the Hostelling International hostel. They had decent showers but did not have a kitchen. A reasonable breakfast was included and the common area had tables for eating lunch or computer use, etc. The room was a double loft bed with a single below but was in no way sound proofed from the next room (the walls did not quite meet the roof) so the snoring of our fellow guests kept Joe awake. The next day, we got a double room at Campo Base. The staff here were very helpful with tour suggestions and local information such as about the local twice weekly market selling fresh produce. Breakfast at Campo Base is supposed to be really good but we were not able to sample it because we went on the 4am tour to the Geysers that day and did not return until noon. After the tour though, they provided us with new towels and allowed us to use the bathrooms (hot water!) and the nice kitchen even though we were not staying there again that evening. We recommend booking at Campo Base well in advance - even though it is expensive, everything in San Pedro is expensive and Campo Base is well worth the price difference.
La Serena: We stayed for three nights at Hostal Maria Casa, an easy walk just north of the bus station on a quiet street. This is a family-run hostel with the family living on the premises. They have a kitchen available for guest use and a very nice garden. The rooms were very clean and brightly decorated with good hot showers in the bathrooms. Although you wouldn't know it, they were having some difficulties hiring cleaning help so breakfast was not offered while we were there. This is just as well because at this point we were getting tired of the typical chilean breakfast fare and were happy to provide our own.
El Chaltén: We arrived by bus in the morning and wanted to immediately head out on our hike. The staff at Hostal Condor de Los Andes (Hostelling International affiliated) stored our baggage for us and we headed out on the trail. After the hike, we stayed here for one night in a double room with a nice bathroom with hot shower. They had a kitchen so we were able to make our own food (breakfast was available for purchase but we got our own). Our night there was memorable in particular because there was a massive windstorm which caused the power to go out in the entire town but it was quite a nice place to stay.
Castro on Isla Grande Chiloé: We arrived fairly late and stayed at Hostal Central for one night. We were the only people there because by this time (April 30th) it was low season and there were hardly any tourists left in town. The hostel had no heating and certainly no hot showers. It felt colder inside than out and we could see our breath in the dining room at breakfast. Breakfast was minimalist (bread and jam and coffee or tea). We suspect that the experience here might have been different in high season.
Chonchi: We stayed at Esmerelda by the Sea in a double room for the nights before and after our hike in Parque Nacional Chiloé. The accommodations were basic with no breakfast but cheap (also no hot water). The owner is a native English speaker (Canadian or American but not sure which) who is quite familiar with the local area and gave us tips the hike.
Valdivia: We stayed at Hostel Bosque Nativo for two nights. This is a fantastic hostel with a great kitchen. This is where we discovered the HoLa hostel pamphlet and began using it as our list of preferred hostels. Each room at Bosque Nativo is panelled with a different type of local wood and emphasizes environmentally friendly practices such as energy conservation through use of CFL bulbs and turning off equipment when not in use and water conservation by posting signs reminding guests not to waste water. This is a general goal of the HoLa hostels but Bosque Nativo was the best of the ones where we stayed at actually putting it into practice. We thoroughly enjoyed our stay here.
Pucón: We stayed at Hostal Donde Egidio for two nights separated by our hiking trip in Huerquehue park. We arrived much later than anticipated because of a transportation hiccup but the owner/staff was waiting for us when we finally did arrive. He was very energetic and friendly and told us where to catch the bus to Parque Nacional Huerquehue at 8:30 the next morning but assured us that he would be there to make sure we got where we needed to go. The next morning breakfast was prepared for us but there was no sign of any staff. So, we left our excess luggage for storage with a note and the money for the previous night's stay and hopped on the bus hoping for the best. Turned out all right when we returned 4 days later so we stayed another night. The hostel itself was very nice with a decent kitchen but the water in the bathroom was lukewarm at best.
San Pedro de Atacama: We experienced the typical revolving door hostelling that occurs in San Pedro - everyone changes hostels frequently because of either bad quality, non-honouring of reservations, or lack of availability. We stayed three nights in three different hostels. The first, Residencial Vilacoyo, did not honour our reservation for a double room so we were left with singles rather late at night so we couldn't go elsewhere. The rooms were very basic and it had an extremely small, very disorganized kitchenette. The next day, we went searching for an alternative. We wanted to stay at Campo Base but they had no room for us for that night. We stayed instead at the Hostelling International hostel. They had decent showers but did not have a kitchen. A reasonable breakfast was included and the common area had tables for eating lunch or computer use, etc. The room was a double loft bed with a single below but was in no way sound proofed from the next room (the walls did not quite meet the roof) so the snoring of our fellow guests kept Joe awake. The next day, we got a double room at Campo Base. The staff here were very helpful with tour suggestions and local information such as about the local twice weekly market selling fresh produce. Breakfast at Campo Base is supposed to be really good but we were not able to sample it because we went on the 4am tour to the Geysers that day and did not return until noon. After the tour though, they provided us with new towels and allowed us to use the bathrooms (hot water!) and the nice kitchen even though we were not staying there again that evening. We recommend booking at Campo Base well in advance - even though it is expensive, everything in San Pedro is expensive and Campo Base is well worth the price difference.
La Serena: We stayed for three nights at Hostal Maria Casa, an easy walk just north of the bus station on a quiet street. This is a family-run hostel with the family living on the premises. They have a kitchen available for guest use and a very nice garden. The rooms were very clean and brightly decorated with good hot showers in the bathrooms. Although you wouldn't know it, they were having some difficulties hiring cleaning help so breakfast was not offered while we were there. This is just as well because at this point we were getting tired of the typical chilean breakfast fare and were happy to provide our own.
1 comments:
Hostels are categorically the place for mingling and backpackers are generally teens.
Jericho Hostel
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