Providencia Bed and Breakfast

When visiting the country of Chile you, more than likely, are going to stop over in the capital of Santiago. Although a city of roughly four and a half million individuals, there is a lacking of inexpensive hotels. In fact, it is hard pressed to find a hotel under $50. Hovering around that mark is the Providencia Bed and Breakfast ($48 a day as of November 2010). This is a pint sized hotel, run out of a residential house in the middle of Providencia (a small section in Santiago). If considering this hotel you need to take into consideration the pros and cons presented to you by the facility.

Location:

As stated, the bed and breakfast is located in the Providencia area of Chile. This is one of the safest, upbeat areas of town that comes with a wide range of locally run restaurants and bars. Although the shopping is significantly lacking, you should never have a problem finding food (the prices are relative to those in the United States, so don't be shell shocked when you pay the same, if not more, for Mexican food or even McDonalds). Thankfully, the hotel is only a few drunken stumbles down a side street, so your bed is never more than a few minutes away.

Staff

The Providencia Bed and Breakfast is run by a married couple native to the area. Although the two only speak Spanish (plus a few words of broken English) you should have no problem communicating with the husband and wife, as they have housed individuals from all over the world.

Food

Breakfast is served at random times throughout the day. If you are an early bird and wake up before nine you are likely to miss out on the food, as this service typically does not begin until after ten. The food is a basic hot roll with cheese, occasionally meat and yogurt. You have the option for tea, coffee and water, although the coffee is a watered down variety and any true coffee lover needs to skip out and just pick up a cup from the diner a few blocks away.

Service

The hotel is extremely well kept as each room is thoroughly cleaned each and every day. However, you may find it extremely difficult booking a room without issue. The bed and breakfast is listed on several travel websites (such as Hotels.com and Priceline), but the confirmation emails sent by the booking agency routinely finds its way into the owner's junk folder, so on arrival you may discover there is no record of your booking. You're not going to be billed twice for your stay (as the owner insists they have not received any confirmation and you must pay for the room), but the bill is going to end up higher than the stated price. This is because the Providencia Bed and Breakfast charges you per day, not by nights stayed. Due to this, you are charged for your entire check out day (even if you leave early in the morning), which adds an additional $48 to your total. This may also result in confusion when leaving, as the bill is undoubtedly more expensive than you thought, or worse you may believe the hotel is already paid for, only to be accused of sneaking out on your bill when leaving on your check out date.