Travelling around Chile: some recommendations on places to stay!

Santiago from our apartment roof terrace

For our final post on this blog we thought we'd put up some recommendations from our time spent living in and travelling around Chile. Mainly we wanted to share our top 10 places to stay. They're in the order that we stayed in them, not in any order of preference. Also they should be seen in this context: while we wanted to meet people we are a couple who didn't want to stay in hostel dorms, we looked for hostels that are owner run, have some character, with private rooms as well as dorms, and include a good breakfast.

None of these places listed below had problems with bathrooms. We found the "bathroom situation" a priority - one bathroom for 20 guests, no... - and we only had a private bathroom in about three of them. Wifi/ computer access weren't priorities, though all of these below except Navimag had some sort of internet access available. We haven't done Tripadvisor reviews for all of them yet, but we can safely say that we'd give all of them 4 or 5 stars for each of the key criteria: "sleep quality", "cleanliness", "service" and "value".

Unless you're a business traveller looking for a Hilton or something, generally speaking Chile has terrible hotels, but loads of really good hostels have been springing up over the last few years. One general thing to remember is that star ratings for hotels describe the facilities available in a hotel, not the standard or quality of the place. A tiny TV with a poor picture, and a trouser press, will get your establishment up the star rankings, even if it's otherwise a dingy hellhole.

With the exceptions of Maria's Casa, Hostal Acuarela, and Hostal Sonchek, we wouldn't say any of this top 10 are the cheapest options in their respective locations - but our main concern was value, not finding the cheapest place no matter what. It's possible to find very cheap accommodation in less "European-style" hostels or in Residenciales. The former tend to be dingy, and the latter are rooms in someone's house - sometimes this can work out well, but other times it's just weird and awkward. One of the times we did this the whole place was run entirely around the needs of the family (kitchen available to guests only at off-times i.e. 10am to 1pm, 3pm to 8pm...) and was generally not all that accommodating.

None of our top 10 recommendations are in Santiago (partly because we wanted to mention the further flung places) but two hostels in the city we know well are:

Hostal Providencia: well located with really friendly staff and lots of info about the city. It's probably fair to describe it as a backpacker hostel - great if you want to meet people, and it's pretty cheap and cheerful.


Andes Hostel: is also well located (close to where we used to live in Santiago) and friendly, if a little more expensive than Providencia. Our best tip however, if you're a holidaying couple, is to get an apartment through Andes Hostel. They're located a block from the hostel, modern, well kitted out and really good value. This is a much better "luxury" option than any of the hotels we're aware of (unless you want to pay a fortune to stay way out East at a big name 5 star in the rather soulless Las Condes part of Santiago). Another similar option is Mosqueto Apartments with apartments on an awesome tiny little street with some of our favourite cafes, right next to Andes Hostel.

So here are 10 places that stood out for us, mainly on the basis of service/ friendliness, character, and value for money:

Maria's Casa, La Serena: run by Chileans Mama Maria and her son Andres, we stayed here twice when visiting the beach side city La Serena, a 6 hour bus ride north from Santiago. A friendly hostel with lots of young travelers but no mega-dorms, mainly double rooms. There's a smaller house across the road with only two rooms - one double and one triple - which you can request if you want to have a quieter stay but, to be clear, the main hostel is not noisy. Both have nice open courtyard spaces to relax in. 

Anna in the courtyard in the small house at Maria's Casa

The Yellow House, Valparaiso: run by a friendly Aussie, Martin, and his Chilean wife Lissette, we also stayed here twice on trips to Valpo, the awesome iconic port city a couple of hours out of Santiago. There are no dorms here and it's more of a B&B/ Guesthouse than a hostel. So it's quiet, has amazing views of the port, helpful staff, and a really good breakfast, well worth the money.

view across the bay from one of Yellow House's rooms

Hostal Acuarela, Valparaiso: a small really friendly hostel with a couple of small dorms (6 or so beds) and a few double rooms, located on the most fun Cerro in Valpo. It's run by a relaxed but helpful group of Chilean guys available 24 hours a day. We stayed here for New Years (which we recommend very highly) and they looked after everyone really well. Awesome breakfast with homemade bread!

this doesn't happen every night - champagne on the roof of the hostel during the New Year's Eve fireworks!

Palafito Hostel, Castro Chiloe: almost certainly the best hostel in Castro - though we only stayed in this one... - we say this on the basis that it's one of the best hostels we've seen anywhere. The same people own a boutique hotel on the same street and, while that's super-special, you can tell that they're both owned and run by the same people. Clean (brand-new pine style clean), good big breakfast and good kitchen facilities looking onto a balcony over the river estuary. The killer point, quite simply, is that it's in a palafito - and if you're staying on Chiloe you should stay in a palafito.

the big red and yellow one is the hostel

El Mosco, Villa O'Higgins: Villa O'Higgins is one of the most remote places in the world, at the end of the Carretera Austral just before the Southern Ice Field. You're in proper rural Chile, the middle of nowhere, and it's great to find El Mosco when you get here. Run by a Spaniard who's a long way from home, there are good facilities with dorms downstairs and double rooms upstairs. Coming back to a log burning stove after a walk is great and, again, the breakfast is amazing (you'll see that there are only a couple of places on this list where we don't mention the quality of the breakfast...). Again, on admittedly observational evidence alone, this is almost certainly the best choice in O'Higgins, and actually it was a bit of a surprise to find something this sophisticated, modern and well run down here. Also, the owner Jorge spent plenty of his time helping travellers with routes, poring over maps of this amazing part of Chile. 

upstairs lounge in El Mosco

Inlandsis, El Chalten Argentina: it's not in Chile but Inlandsis makes our list of standout places. It kind of counts as Chile as we reached here from Villa O'Higgins by boat and then a long trek on foot across the Chile-Argentina border. You can also get there by bus from elsewhere in Argentina, or by flying to nearby El Calafate. More of a modern B&B than a hostel, it's all double/ twin rooms, no dorms. We had an economy room which was large, with a private bathroom, and bunk beds. Because it's in Argentina it also feels like amazing value as everything here is slightly cheaper than in Chile. El Chalten is a great place to spend some time. Our view may be coloured by the fact we got fresh laundry here after a few weeks on the road. That was a seminal moment, but we're fairly sure Inlandsis stands on its own merits, whether they wash your crusty smalls for you or not.

the nice well laid-out economy room at Inlandsis

Hostal Dos Lagunas, Puerto Natales: this is the place to stay to plan a trip to the Torres del Paine National Park. The owner gives every guest a presentation on the Park, and the options for seeing it, amusingly rebuking guests who ask questions while he's in full flow. The accommodation itself isn't up to much, but it's comfy and warm, and this recommendation is really about the friendly welcome and expertise of the owner, Alejandro, and his coffee - proper espresso made in Italian stove-top espresso makers donated by past guests. Not something you see often in Chile, especially outside Santiago.

we don't seem to have a photo of this hostel, so here's the Torres del Paine instead!

Navimag Ferry, Puerto Natales to Puerto Montt (or vice versa): although it's a boat, it's defo one of our stand out places to stay - the journey we took through the Patagonian Fjords north from Puerto Natales to Puerto Montt took 5 days and was great fun. You can also do the journey in the opposite direction. We got lucky in that we booked the cheapest beds (which are basically bunks in a wall with a curtain, like where Lister sleeps in Red Dwarf, except worse as they're in the corridor) but managed to get upgraded to a 4 person cabin, with a window, for the two of us. It seems to be that when the ferry is not fully booked they will routinely upgrade people when checking in, but we got an awesome upgrade as the berths are priced more highly with windows, and they're pretty small for 4 people. Basically you have to be willing to be sociable and accommodating, there are no dorms but you could be sleeping about a metre across from some new friends. You're well looked after, it's an amazing experience with the views of pristine islands in the fjords, and where else do you get to smell cow poo while on a cruise?

the fun rear deck on Navimag

Hostal Sonchek, San Pedro de Atacama: this is a great little hostel in the middle of San Pedro, in a courtyard house, with all double/ twin rooms (we think). It's a good value place to sleep, and there are a few tables and chairs around the courtyard. There are plenty of bathrooms. San Pedro is awesome but not a cheap place to be generally, so we found this an excellent budget option. 

the central courtyard in Hostal Sonchek

Hare Swiss, Easter Island: run by Peter, a Swiss guy, and his Rapa nui wife, this is the name for three large, clean and comfortable cabañas located a little way out of Hanga Roa, with an amazing view of the sunset over the western shore of the Island every night! We were really well looked after, Peter offers some really good tours and other advice and, yes, there was a great breakfast.

sunset from the balcony at Hare Swiss

Obviously there are plenty of other good places around, and anywhere else we've mentioned in other blog posts are also recommended, unless we say otherwise in the relevant post...

This is our last post on this blog, unless we really get an itch to post about something else... and we might anyway add a few more links to photo galleries. The time we spent in Chile was an experience we'll never forget. Thanks to everyone who helped us with anything big or small in getting us to and from Chile and while we were there, and to all the great people we met: we hope to see you again someday!

CHAO!

Patagonia January 2011: Punta Arenas and Puerto Natales - Chilean cities at the end of the world!

The flag in the pic above is the flag of Magallenes, the southerly most province of Chile in the heart of Patagonia, and includes the large island shared with Argentina, Tierra del Fuego, other smaller Chilean islands in the Magellan Strait, and Chilean Argentinian territory. The capital of Magallenes is a city called Punta Arenas, which grew up around Patagonian sheep farming and other related activities, started by entrepreneurial pioneers like Mauricio Braun in the late 19th century. After spending some time in Argentinian Patagonia, we spent a few days in and around this city here at the end of the world, then moved up to Puerto Natales, the major port of southern Patagonia - from where we visited the amazing Torres del Paine and caught the great fun cargo and passenger ferry, Navimag, back up to Puerto Montt.

This post is the last of our January travels posts, and has links to galleries of photos on the Torres del Paine National Park, and the journey on Navimag through the pristine, almost completely uninhabited, Patagonian fjords. 

view onto Punta Arenas and the Magellan Strait

one of the old cargo piers in the Magellan Strait

height of summer in Patagonia - sunny, but cold wind and rain is always round the corner!

trolley tracks coming off the pier into one of the quayside warehouses

the quayside buildings give an idea of how prosperous and busy PA used to be

Some views inside the Braun family home - now a museum - another grand home of an immigrant done good, reminiscent of Casa Anwandter in Valdivia:

The phone in the pic above is an Eriksson, which is a nice bit of living history. Oddly, Chileans use the Spanish "Hola" when greeting people face to face, but something like the English "Hello" (actually more like "'alo" now) when answering the phone. We don't know why they do this or if the same thing occurs in other Spanish-speaking countries, but our theory is that, going back to British colonial times, probably the first people to speak on phones were English speakers. So saying "hello" became the way to answer the phone. Maybe.

below stairs

One of the trips you can take out of Punta Arenas is to visit two archaeological sites: Puerto Hambre (rendered in English as Port Famine) and Fuerte Bulnes (a Chilean fort).  Nothing now remains of Puerto Hambre, it's the site of an early conquistador fort intended to thwart Drake's privateering. 300 Spanish settled here in 1584 and all soon died of hunger as they couldn't grow any food in the harsh Patagonian climate. Fittingly when we visited the monument it was absolutely lashing with rain, which really made clear how unpleasant it must have been to live here back then.

fishing boats moored off the site of Port Famine

Fuerte Bulnes was founded in 1843 a few years after Chilean independence and was essentially the Chilean stake on its claim to what is now Chilean Patagonia - presumably because Argentina also had a claim. Again, it cannot have been fun living in the wooden buildings here, really not.

To another historical site, another of South America's amazing cemeteries, the cemetery at Punta Arenas:

Now a few more pics around Punta Arenas, before moving up to Puerto Natales:

lots of red brick in Punta Arenas, quite different from other parts of Chile

another piece of Punta Arenas history, Chalet Milward named for the British Consul Charlie Milward ...

... who lived in this mock-castle and put Ernest Shackleton up during his Antarctic exploration

plenty of sun and even more rain make for some lovely flora down here

pastels (pies) of any sort are the thing to eat to stay warm down here

nice husky type dog

Puerto Natales has a similar feel to Punta Arenas, though it's smaller and, because it's the main jump-off point for visits to Torres del Paine, has more of a ski resort/ climbing/ general adventure sports town feel about it. It also has an excellent range of places to eat, drink and chill out.

a great pizza place, can't remember the name but it's opposite the church...

The Living Room we think... anyway also near the church with v good coffee and atmos

Just a few random pics around the city:

another of those evocative ruined cargo piers

All of the street signs in Puerto Natales have this little picture on. It's not immediately obvious but it's a representation of the Milodon, a gigantic prehistoric sloth-like creature which was discovered (frozen) in a large cave near PN that you can visit. This sign is doubly interesting because this particular street is named for one of the very first German settlers of the region - a large picture of him looking beardy and scary with his Mapuche wife and children can be seen in the museum in Punta Arenas we mentioned above.

view looking out of the Milodon's cave

inside the Milodon's cave

Struan with the model Milodon

As we've mentioned before, we spent some time in the Parque Nacional Torres del Paine while we were down here. This is a world famous trekking destination, very well set-up for both the hardened and "gentleman" hiker. Here's a gallery of our pics.

Then we went to catch the Navimag, a cargo ferry serving the south of Chile, with a converted passenger deck.

livestock transport

the cows that came with us on the journey back up to Puerto Montt!

the majestic Navimag ferry

the Evangelistas up close

This journey through the Patagonian fjords was an amazing part of our January travels, a real highlight, beautiful scenery and lots of fun people on the ship, here are some pics...

a taster ...

That's the last of our more detailed posts from our trip down to Southern Patagonia through all sorts of interesting places, we hope you enjoyed these posts!

... and we'll end with a comedy array of dogs of all shapes and sizes, congregating in Puerto Natales for who knows what... chao!