I’ve looked at several options for three locations in Chile and here is what we found out:
Santiago
I tried to make a reservation at a popular American chain hotel in Santiago Chile.
The maximum allowed in the room is three and the child has to be under the age of 12. We have teens, so we need two rooms with each room costing $299 per night without breakfast during the week and $209 for the weekend. Even if you want a suite at $429, the maximum people allowed is three.
If you have a child under 12 (third person) you'll have to pay extra $60 per night. The total for just two nights for us during the week would be US$1196.
My solution:
Found an apartment in the heart of town with two bedrooms and one bath, 538 sq. ft. with full kitchen, free WIFI, doorman, gym, elevator, heating, cable TV for one week for ¾ of the price quoted above. I got this from AirBnB.
We faced the same problem in Valparaiso and found our solution with AirBnB.
Punta Arenas
Punta Arenas is Chile’s southern-most city. The AirBnB apartment selections are limited. We ran into the same problem with hotel rooms again. Just for a night, we made our reservation through HostelBookers.com.
We reserved one room with four beds at Hostal El Estancia for $19 per person per night. I already had good experiences with this hostel. They answer all questions promptly.
This hostel has great reviews on Trip Advisor and breakfast, free luggage storage, WiFi and cable TV are included with your stay.
Puerto Natales
Puerto Natales is the gateway to the glaciers and national parks. The highlights of our trip to Southern Patagonia are visits to Torres del Paine National Park, sailing around Patagonia Fjords to view Serrano and Balmaceda Glaciers, Perito Moreno Glaciers (Argentina) and hopefully we can meet a few gauchos.
Trip Advisor has great reviews for Hostel Keoken. Unfortunately they were fully booked on the days we want. Our next option was The Singular Hotel but it would have cost us over $3,000 for four nights. Finally, I made the decision to go for Weskar Patagonian Lodge. Weskar has family rooms and accommodates four people. The family room we booked for four is $250 per night including breakfast.
We are looking forward to our Weskar Patagonian Lodge experience. Here is a glimpse into Weskar (video from their website):
I look forward to hearing about (and seeing your photos) of Chile! In 1977 I was a foreign exchange student in Valdivia, toward the Southern end of Chile. It really changed my life, and I loved living with the Chilean people 🙂
What a great way to live and to learn, as a family!
The teens are getting excited now. We are looking forward to sharing our photos and stories. Take care Susan!
We are a couple and have started to use airbnb for our domestic trips. We had a hard time finding good, inexpensive accommodations in South America as well. We stayed in 4 types of places, hostels, estancias, hotels and a bed and breakfast. The estancia was best, but most expensive, followed closely by the bed and breakfast. The hostels were too loud, only had twin beds, and the age difference between the other patrons and us was striking. I think for our next extended trip to Europe, we will use air bnb or try a house swap since we live near the beach in southern California.
Hi Lisa, thanks for stopping by and leaving a comment. We love hearing from our readers.We have stayed only in one hostel while in Florence and it was a great experience.It was quiet and the breakfast was great.