Chile Travel Guide
Tags: Party Dispatch Report / W Hotels / Hotel Openings / Hotel Parties / Santiago Hotels / → All Tags
Inside The W Santiago's Grand Opening Party
For the opening of the W Santiago Chile we were fortunate to have Jonathan Franklin and photographer Morten Andersen, the guys behind Addict Village attend the party and report back to us on what they saw. We know, we know, what a tough assignment. Enjoy.
W chose Santiago as its first ever South American location roughly five years ago. Finally on Tuesday, The W Hotel Santiago held its official opening party, a trademark WOW experience that included a rooftop pool adorned with three female synchronized swimmers in body gripping silver suits, live bands on various stages and the constant buzz from the estimated 1,200 guests.
Beginning at 8pm, paparazzi stalked the entrance as a virtual "Who’s Who" of Southern Cone businessmen, artists, models (lots), and a few Trustafarians gathered for a summit of a globalized tribe, a roving band of creatives. It felt like an art festival as painters, jewelry designers and Google nerds mixed with surfers and journalists.
W Hotels often brag about their "cool" but we have to admit, even the public spaces off the parking garage where the hotel's opening party was held, are cool. Three floors underground in "Great Room 2", hundreds of hotel guests listened to a rocking Argentine band. As the guests wandered amidst candlelit tables, they were tempted by Roman Empire-sized offering of cheese and wine. The wheels of cheese were the size of basketballs.
Fountains of chocolates and trays of oysters competed for attention. A migrating flock of waiters and hostesses swooped in to remove empty glasses, fill empty plates as they deliver a W trademark: friendly, worldy staff.
Where else does the elevator guy answer the question ‘where you from?’ with, “Born in Chile, raised in Belgium but lived in Singapore for a long time.”
Tags: W Hotels / South American Hotels / Chile Hotels / → All Tags
Santiago Gets a Touch of W Cool
Give us two weeks off and 50,000 frequent flyer miles and we'd high-tail it south of the equator to Chile – especially since the dreary winter season is about to cast its Vitamin D deficient pall upon us until April, at least. Note to self: when it’s winter in the northern hemisphere, it’s always summer somewhere else.
In our Chilean travels, we’ve had our way from Calama to Cape Horn, but have yet to spend more than an overnight and a few in and out flights from Aeropuerto de Santiago in Chile’s fine capital city.
For such excursions, we really dig the Holiday Inn Santiago directly across the street from the airport ticketing gate, but are excited to expand our city wide explorations now that W Hotels has opened its first-ever South American hotel, The W Santiago.
Tags: Hotel Packages / Hotel Deals / Chile Hotels / Ski Hotels / → All Tags
It's Not Too Late to Ski Portillo in Chile
Where: Chile
If we could tame our wanderlust ways, we’d consider holing up in the northern Chilean town of San Pedro de Atacama for a good long time. Earlier this year, we traveled everywhere--from Calama to Cape Horn (via the small cruise ship, Mare Australia--and simply could not get enough of the country, the people, and culture of Chile.
What we love best is that, as you know, when it’s summer here, it’s winter there. Depending upon how high the sweat factor’s been this summer (our condolences to Phoenix), we’re betting some of Northern Hemisphere dwellers would happily swap the final few weekends at the lake/river/beach/pool for a flight south of the equator and some last minute summer ski fun.
Tags: HotelChatter Reviews / Holiday Inns / Airport Hotels / Santiago Hotels / South America Hotels / → All Tags
Holiday Inn Santiago Airport Makes You Wish You'd Missed Your Flight
The Holiday Inn brand doesn't necessarily evoke a sense of hipness or luxury, but the Holiday Inn Santiago Airport just may change everything you think about this well-known chain.
Located literally less than 50 steps from the front entrance to Aeropuerto de Santiago, this property has every amenity the business or casual traveler needs for a long layover or comfortable overnight stay. If you miss your flight or get delayed, there may just be no better place to stay in Santiago.
Tags: Best Hotels in Chile / Patagonia Hotels / Hotel Video Tours / Five Best Hotels / → All Tags
Five Hot Hotels In Chile You Should Know About
West Coast web media princess, and the latest Jaunted Embed, Shira Lazar created a glorious on-the-fly Chile travel guide for Jaunted using as much point oh social webbing as she could. She also took the time to suss out the 5 can't miss, of the moment hotels in Chile.
Tags: Killer View / Explora Hotels / Patagonia Hotels / → All Tags
A View To Savor While Chillin' in Chile
We are suckers for a room with a killer view. We find that we are even more likely to forgive some minor hotel inconveniences if we can stare out the window at something pretty--yeah we are that shallow. Let's help out our fellow hotel mavens by uploading rooms with killer views to the HotelChatter/Flickr photo pool, or by sending the photo along to us. We will feature our favorites in this space from time to time. Remember to tell us the name of the hotel and the room number of the hot view.
Look at this freaking view. No, just look at it.
Can you imagine sipping some tea with your feet up in your hotel room staring out at that view? The clear skies, the blue water — it looks like a fantasy world.
This is the view from the Explora Hotel Salto Chico on the shore of Lake Pehoé in Patagonia, right in Torres del Paine Park, which was designated a UNESCO World Heritage site. The location is pretty remote — you fly from Santiago to Punta Arenas, and then an Explora staffer will meet you at the airport and drive you to the hotel; the trip takes about 5 hours from Santiago. But, um, it's worth it, dontchya think?
The hotel develops "explorations" for guests; each day, you get your pick of 5 different explorations (which have been designed/selected according to the weather, duration and difficulty). Room rates include those explorations, airport transportation and three meals per day, but the all-inclusive-awesomeness will cost you: rates start at $2,660 for a four-night stay. Check out all the info you need here. Or just continue gazing at this picture.
[Photo: Ben Oh]
Tags: 33rd-Parallel-South-Hotels-Map / 33rd Parallel South Hotels / Santiago Hotels / → All Tags
Where to Stay in Santiago
All this week, Eric Rosen will be bringing us his hotel recommendations for an interesting trip down in South America. He explains it all in our latest hotel guide--Budget Boutique Hotels of the 33rd Parallel South.
Santiago is not one of the most tourist-friendly destinations in South America. Perhaps that’s the last remnant of a past strewn with the wreckage of successive dictatorial regimes. Or maybe it’s just because the city itself isn’t that pretty despite the beautiful snow-capped Andes that saturate every vista. Most people don’t even exit the airport, but simply use the city as a transfer hub to Chile’s other points of interest. This is a city of over 6 million people, though, so there is still a lot of fun to be had, good food to eat, fine wine to drink, and sights to see.
Tags: Patagonia Hotels / Design Hotels / Tablet Hotels / Hotel Hammocks / → All Tags
Hammock Dreaming at This Super Cool Hotel in Patagonia
We just found this hotel through the Tablet Hotels application on Facebook (oh yeah, we're into that!) and we wanna go like right now.
It's called Hotel Indigo and it thankfully has nothing to do with the cookie-cutter "lifestyle" brand from IHG Hotels.
Hotel Indigo is located in the Chilean part of Patagonia in Puerto Natales. It's a bit difficult to get to but probably worth it.
The 29-room hotel offers super killer views of the Last Hope Fjord and is close to the Torres del Paine park. But what's really great about this hotel is that it's practically architectural eye candy and stylish inside to boot. Not something you would usually expect from a hotel in Patagonia.
The hotel has wireless internet, a spa, a restaurant and lounge bar and a hammock in the lobby. We love hammocks here. But the bestest part is the price. Room rates start at $160--totally reasonable for such a cool hotel.
Tags: Hotel Pools / Chile Hotels / → All Tags
Lovin' the Biggest Pool in the World
Where: Ave. Kennedy 8830, Chile
We did briefly mention last month that the world's largest swimming pool is now officially found in the San Alfonso del Mar Resort in Chile, but given our deep love for hotel pools, we figured it's time to take a closer look, especially since the Guinness Book of World Records decided it was worth looking at, too.
The San Alfonso del Mar Resort, on the southern coast of Chile, spent around $1.5 billion to create this lagoon of a swimming pool, which is a full one kilometer in length. Two neat facts strike us about this pool: hotel guests get to use small boats and kayaks to get around, because the pool is so big, and cleaning is a breeze because they've got technology to clean and recirculate ocean water into the pool.
As for staying at the San Alfonso del Mar, you've got two choices. Either buy a vacation apartment there--some buildings are still under construction--or check their resort website if you read Spanish. Be prepared for a heap of annoying pop-up windows. But keep your eye on the prize--that beautiful pool--and you'll be able to get through 'em.
[Photo: ervega]
Tags: Explora Hotels / Chile Hotels / Adventure Hotels / Monica Guy / Cubicle Dreamin' / → All Tags
Cubicle Dreamin': Explora Hotels are an Adventure Playground
Where: Chile
Cubicle Dreamin' is a feature in which we ask the hotel mavens to take some time out of their busy work day, surf the Internet, and tell us what hotel they wish they could beam themselves to right that very second--all on the slave driving companies dime, of course. Oh, like these people aren't surfing aimlessly anyway--at least now their purposeless clicking will be cobbled together into useful hotel stories--we hope. Have a destination hotel you are just dying to leave your cube for? Send the story our way.
In this episode, Hotel Maven Monica Guy returns to Chile. Enjoy.
Split the cubicle in half: I'm dreaming of two superb hotels at opposite ends of the longest, skinniest country in the world - Chile.
The Explora Hotel in Atacama and the Explora Hotel in Patagonia are my constant fantasy ever since a stay in the Explora Hotel in Easter Island last month.
Let me gush:
Tags: Chile Hotels / Monica Guy / South America Hotels / → All Tags
Chilean Hotel Scene: Villa del Rio in Valdivia
This week our roaming correspondent, Monica Guy, is giving us the low-down on the Chilean Hotel Scene. Here she checks out a five-star hotel Chilean style. Enjoy.
Some hotels are 5-star for their facilities, some 5-star for their service, some for their location. Some are 5-star because they simply award themselves the title, and nobody knows the difference.
The Hotel Villa del Rio in Valdivia, Chile, fits right into the second and third categories.
Tags: Business Travel Hotels / Anti-View / Chile Hotels / Monica Guy / → All Tags
Chilean Hotel Scene: How Do You Say Anti-View in Spanish?
This week our roaming correspondent, Monica Guy, is giving us the low-down on the Chilean Hotel Scene. Here she encounters una vista mal. Enjoy.
Lucky Lorie and Paul Bennett, who found a killer view staring at them out of the window of the businessy Park Plaza Hotel in Santiago, Chile.
We on the other hand spent the night in the Radisson Plaza Santiago Hotel, a similar 160-room 5-star mega-hotel in Santiago's business district.
In their information about the local area, they forgot to mention they're backed right onto a mega-building site which actually seems to create 100 times more dust and noise and pollution than buildings.
If you're lucky, you'll be on the other side of the building, which faces a blank tower block.
How miserable. You're in one of the hottest capitals in one of the most beautiful countries in the world, you have to work (presumably you're here on business, or you wouldn't be staying at the Radisson) and to top it all off, the view out of your hotel window is enough to make you want to top yourself off.
The hotel is fine - standard business-hotel affair, with a piano player tinkling away in the small bar, a small swimming pool and a well-equipped gym on the top floor (at least you can see over the top of the building site) and all the usual knobs and whistles of a Radisson.
Service is sloooooow, and we couldn't get WiFi to work, but apart from that you'll get pretty much what you expect.
Rates are standard business hotel rates, with a bit taken off for Latin America. If you can't pass the bill on to your boss without looking at it, don't bother staying here.
Hotels In: Africa | Asia | Australia | Caribbean | Europe | North America | South America
Our Publications:
Jaunted | HotelChatter | VegasChatter
