Where We Stayed: Chile

**Note: This information pertains to a double room with two beds for each accommodation; prices for singles and larger rooms will vary. 

Websites have been provided when possible.

The breakfast offered at each of these locations is what we called a "South American Breakfast" and is not as comprehensive as an English or American breakfast. Usually this included bread, jam and coffee/tea/juice. Additional foods varied between hostels and included yoghurt, eggs and ham.**

City: Arica (Chile)

Lodging: Hotel Raissa

Cost (per night): 24,000 pesos = $48

Number of Nights: 1

Amenities: Breakfast, Cable TV, Private Bathroom

Staff Spoke English?: No

Notes: The staff at Hotel Raissa were extremely nice and very helpful. However, the room and bathroom were very small and the hot water did not work; the water pressure was so-so. Considering we did not have this problem anywhere else, we counted this as a line in the Con Column. 

Hotel Raissa is about a ten-minute walk into the small town center, where shops and restaurants line either side of the bustling pedestrian street. Arica is not very touristy and not very large, but it is the first town across the Chilean border and a common overnight stop for travelers. 

Overall, this hotel is good for a place to crash for the night, but nothing special. 

City: Iquique (Chile)

Lodging: Hotel Las Dunas

Website: http://www.hotellasdunas.cl/
Cost (per night): 36,000 pesos = $72

Number of Nights: 1

Amenities: Breakfast, Wireless Internet, Cable TV, Private Bathroom, Hair Dryer 

Staff Spoke English?: No

Notes: There is nothing particularly wrong with Hotel Las Dunas: the room was clean, the staff was friendly and helpful, the shower had hot water and great pressure, the television worked and breakfast was easy and simple. However, this hotel is extremely overpriced. In general, Chile is not cheap and Las Dunas was no exception; for a three-star accommodation in a small, non-tourist town we paid the same price as our hotel in Santiago. We didn't book a hotel for Iquique ahead of time, but if we had we likely would have booked elsewhere. 

This part of town (and Iquique in general) isn't very nice - it's safe enough, but not beautiful. If you stay at Hotel Las Dunas or anywhere in the neighborhood, you can walk down to the water in about 15 minutes, and there you will find an industrial shipping area. If you follow the path along the coastline you find the commercial (read: pretty) beaches where locals hang out, swim and surf. There is no real "town center" in Iquique, but the main attractions and businesses follow the ocean coast, more or less.

However, Hotel Las Dunas is about five blocks from the Tur Bus station, which was very convenient; we skipped paying for a taxi and were able to carry our things easily from the hotel to the station. 

City: Santiago (Chile)

Lodging: Nomades Hostel

Website: http://nomadeshostel.cl/wp/
Cost (per night): $70

Number of Nights: 2 nights

Amenities: Breakfast, Wireless Internet, Cable TV, Private Bathroom

Staff Spoke English?: Yes

Notes: We arrived at Nomades Hostel at approximately 7 in the morning, straight off the bus from La Serena. Cold and exhausted, we were slightly peeved by the fact that the woman on night-duty failed to respond to our knocking and bell-ringing for a solid 20 minutes. However, after we were let in we were allowed to check-in and crash in our room hours earlier than anticipated. The owner later apologized for the inconvenience and he even prepared an extra portion of breakfast for us. 

Nomades Hostel is located away from the town center in a neighborhood called Bellavista. Despite multiple warnings that the area was dangerous or "not the nicest", we encountered no issues and never felt unsafe walking around at night. The walk into town is easy (about 45 minutes) and takes you past markets and parks, across the bridge and along the river. 

On your way into town you can stop by the Bellavista market square which houses an abundance of restaurants and small souvenir shops. A little further down the street (closer to the bridge) there is a second set of stalls where you can purchase gifts for friends and family. This area is a seven-minute walk from the hostel. 

The owner of Nomades answered all of our questions, sorted us out with a walking tour and arranged our early-morning cab pick-up on the day we flew out. The hostel has a communal kitchen which the staff encouraged us to use freely for whatever we needed.