HotelChatter

Valdivia
Valdivia is a small, rather sweet town a couple of hours' flight south of Santiago, set in the most beautiful countryside at the confluence of three rivers. It has a lovely little quayside populated mostly by seagulls and sea-lions, from where boats will take you on tours up and down the river. If you go there, though, it will either be for business or for the nature - the rivers, mountains, treks round about - not the town.

The Villa del Rio is the largest of two 5-star hotels in the town, the main nesting spot for business people and more well-off travellers. Facilities might tick a few boxes on a 5-star list, but only in theory.

Bits of wood are missing from doors, baths generally don't have plugs, toiletries are on a par with the soap in French public toilets. Furniture is old - clearly repaired time and again - and frumpy, although comfortable enough. And the breakfast is a Nescafé, cheap yoghurt and pastry affair.

Service
But if the hotel's not rolling in wealth and investment, it definitely wins out on two things: service and location.

The staff at the Villa del Rio are so keen to please, they're not happy unless you're grinning. They're flexible - we tried them out several times by ordering food in the bar at bizarre times of the night, and by wanting out rooms cleaned during the maids' time off - and they always came up trumps. They were efficient and quick and always smiling. Hats off to them.

Location
And the location is superb - overlooking the Calle Calle river that flows into Valdivia. Leave your windows open so you see the sun rise up over it in the morning. It's a 2-dollar taxi ride into the center, which makes it peaceful and withdrawn without being isolated.

In a lot of South America, you won't get 5-stars meaning 5-stars proper, except in the odd luxury hotel such as the Explora on Easter Island. But 5-star views and 5-star service makes up for this.

[Photo: Jesu__]