Four of stayed at the Providencia Panamericana Hotel for four nights (two nights at the start of our trip, two nights at the end, with Easter Island in between). Our travel company, Marnella, booked us 2 rooms there as part of their Santiago/Easter Island package. The hotel is located in the Providencia section of the city, the bustling economic center of Santiago. While it is located on a somewhat quiet side street it is just a block or so from crazy, crowded, multilane streets packed with traffic. You could walk to one small area of restaurants and bars, but besides that the area shut down after 5 p.m. It was actually a little creepy walking from the subway stop in the evening--very deserted. The hotel itself is unremarkable in design, other than the koi pond at the entrance. The rooms are standard, maybe similar to a holiday Inn, but smaller. There was some occasional street noise during the evening. The elevator is tiny and doesn't fit more than 3 people comfortably--we opted for the stairs. There is a restaurant and bar on the premises but it was empty every time we went there). It was crowded during breakfast (included in the room price) where they put out quite a spread. In the lobby there are 2 computers with free Internet available, but were nearly always occupied by kids playing games or looking at My Space. Our guide told us that mostly Brazilian tourists stay at the hotel, and that was obvious by the many large groups who filled the lobby every morning and evening. We have nothing against Brazilians except that they seemed to get preferential treatment from the staff. We noticed that the front desk staff definitely treated them better than they treated us--they did not seem thrilled to have Americans staying there. And let me add that we are definitely not the "Ugly American" types--we are polite, unassuming, well seasoned travelers (we are teachers) and one of us speaks Spanish. But many times when we asked a question (i.e. can we change money?) we received a curt response...and seconds later a Brazilian would ask a question and the clerks would smile, laugh, and be quite helpful. It was strange. The worst incident involved storing a few items. After staying there 2 days we were leaving for Easter Island, and would return to the hotel in 5 days. The day before we asked if we could store 5 bottles of inexpensive wine we purchased at a local vineyard, as well as a small black duffle bag with a few items of clothing. We dropped off the items and received a claim ticker. Upon returning in 5 days we couldn't locate our claim ticket. We described the items in detail (including the clothes in the bag), and the clerk took them from the closet. We smiled and said yes, and reached out to take them. He pulled them back and told us to find the ticket. We politely apologized for losing our ticket but reminded him that we described these items in detail. Then he said something to the effect of "Come back when you aren't so emotional." We were not emotional until that point, but we internalized our emotions at least. The next day another more polite clerk gave us our items after we described them in detail again. The hotel also set up a trip to Valparaiso for us, but it was a terrible trip--expensive, non-English speaking guide (they told us he spoke English), and trips to places where he got a cut, like restaurants and gift shops. The hotel told us we could pay with a credit card but the man demanded cash. Hotels aren't a big deal for us as we spend so much time elsewhere, but I definitely would search out other options if I returned to Santiago. We spent a lot of time in the area of Santiago called Bellavista. It's packed with restaurants, bars, shops, clubs, you name it. I would look for a hotel in this area rather than paying for a cab fare to get there from the Panamericana.

I recently spent three nights at the Hotel Providencia. Overall, the hotel is perfectly adequate - (i) the rooms are clean, albeit a bit dated; (ii) we had a nice flat screen TV in our room with access to a large number of stations (including quite a few in English); (iii) the hotel is within easy walking distance of the shops and restaurants in Providencia (iv) the hotel is a quick walk to the metro, which was easy to use and seemed to go everywhere we wanted to go within the city; and (v) the hotel provides a free pisco sour to guests as a welcome gift. That being said, I cant recommend the hotel because it was simply unbearably hot in the rooms. Our stay was broken into two separate stays (1 night and then later 2 nights after an intervening 5 day trip to Easter Island) so we had two different rooms. We were there in November, and it reached 92 degrees the first night. Although the hotel has air conditioning, it didnt seem to work, and we had to rely on a fan in the room which helped, but was not enough to make the stay comfortable. We assumed that the air was simply broken, but when we returned it was just as hot (even though it was only in the low 80's outside), and our new room did not have a fan. Unfortunately, the air conditioner blew out hot air and we were unable to sleep at all, even after opening the screenless windows. We heard others complaining in the lobby as well, and while they tried to distribute fans to the extent available, the employees did not act as though this is an uncommon occurrence. Given that 5 days passed between our first and second stay, it seems that the hotel would have had time to have the air serviced if they so desired. The hotel is moderately priced, but hotels in Santiago are generally reasonably priced, so I would recommend looking beyond the Hotel Providencia, at least in summer.

You know how in the travel industry, you read how those working there should aim to please? Well, the staff in Panamericana are not like that. First, beware there is a Panamericano that is in the downtown area. My shuttle dropped me there, which was the wrong hotel. The staff were very helpful. They called my other hotel and then called a cab, lugged my luggage into the other cab and then told me the cab fare to pay. That was a good start. So I was in a good mood as Im checking in. Once in the room, I was surprised there was no tissue. So I called and the guy at the line kept saying "t-shirt?" I finally went to the reception where he said they don't use tissue in Chile. My room was all right although somewhat spartan. Having just come from hotels in Asia, I was disappointed of course. There was a cake of soap, two bottles of shampoo and a shower cap. Fortunately I had my own shampoo and shower gel. The aircon was not working well. There was no kettle or complimentary mineral water. Internet access was good through a lan line. Breakfast was basic and the menu was identical in the days I was there. Now on the service: I booked a tour but the following day I was not sure when my meeting would end. So I got my Spanish friend to help explain. The front desk man told my friend the time and then when we pointed out that his time was different from that of the brochure said, The time I told you is the time. He refused to check to confirm and even denied that there was someone called Claudio whom I had dealt with for the booking. I cancelled the tour. As I am leaving, I ask another man to book a shuttle. He turns around and asks me for the phone number of the shuttle company. "If you don't know the number how can I call?" In the end, because the shuttles need 3 hours of notice, I had to use him. I then changed some pesos to tip the driver but was shortchanged as I did not count the change properly. All in all, I would say that if you have the money, buy the hotel chain, revamp the management and you should have a good business. This hotel especially is well located, near a metro stop, near excellent restaurants and on a quiet leafy street. It would be perfect hotel, but for the managers ruining it.

This was a "hub" hotel on our 3 week tour round Chile - stayed here 5 nights overall as we returned through Santiago enroute to somewhere else! Roughly 20 min drive from the airport, off peak. Basically nothing to add to the other accurate reviews on this site. Good service, rooms were fine - dated decor but kept clean. Reasonably easy access to the Internet facility. Good location for the metro and the variety of good restaurants nearby. Breakfast was fine and good bar snacks available one evening when we returned late. Slight delays in checking out whilst they sent someone to check out the room loudly by radio! But hardly an issue overall.

The hotel is located in a nice quite street in a busy area very close to the main street in Providencia. It was very close to the metro and also walking diatance to the Cable Car ride though a beautiful neighborhood. The outside of the hotel is attractive with two fish ponds. The lobby is also very attractive. You get a complimentary drink upon check-in. The staff spoke excellent English and although my Spanish is limited I almost felt guilty that it was so easy to communicate. Our room was okay. It was very large, but it seemed like they never vacuumed the floor. If we were staying more than one night I would have asked for someone to come up and vaccum. The carpet and bedspreads were very worn. The room was very quiet. The complimentary breakfast was excellent. There was ample choice and the fruit was very fresh. The other nice thing was the courtyard with the pool. The courtyard got shady early in the day and it was a nice place to sit and relax. They held our bags after check out and we returned an hour before we needed to leave for the airport. It was very comfortable sitting in the courtyard while our son played. They called a taxi for us to get to the airport and made sure that our luggage would fit. Overall, this hotel would only be better if they replaced the carpets and bedspreads.