My fiancee and I randomly picked la casa roja out of the lonely planet and booked 1 night before we left for santaigo. we were so pleased with our stay, we spent another night and also stayed there before flying out 3 weeks later. The staff was super helpful and everything was very clean. The building itself was so cool, a beautiful old mansion. The backyard was also a plus. With the pool, lawn and ping pong table, it was like a little oasis inside of barrio brasil. The breakfast, which was included was also great. it even included eggs, which is something you don't really see anywhere else. I would definitely recommend this place to anyone travelling through santiago. we had a really great experience, i can't say enough good things about it.

The hostel itself is one of the best I have ever stayed in. The rooms are great (I stayed in both the dorms and a private room), the bathrooms are clean and the pool area is awesome. Location is good too, only a 15 minute walk to the city attractions.

The problem is the staff. A few of the front desk staff appear not to want to help or just don't care at all. This was something I experienced personally and witnessed with others. And as others have commented, getting charged correctly seems impossible. My rooms were paid as part of a group and upon check out they tried to charge me again. It took a couple of attempts to explain to them, yet they still couldn't work it out.

I stayed in a combination of the shared rooms and the private rooms for a total of 7 nights. The pool and backyard area is great. The rooms are very clean, the staff very friendly. Every Friday night they have a BBQ ($10 to join in), the food was fantastic. I really enjoyed my stay here. Great value, easily one of the best hostels I've stayed in.

This one-of-a-kind hostel is located on a cool neighborhood. It's a huge old mansion with a lot of rooms and it offers the maximum of interaction among the guests setting parties, tours and all. We stayed in a double private room with bathroom (#9) and everything was really nice and quiet :) (the parties are usually held on the huge backyard where the pool (not necessarily cleaned) and the bars are located.
The staff was 'ok' -- nothing outstanding, but also nothing too friendly as they claim to be.

I'd say that the managers should work a little bit more on the staff training, e-mails, calls. It seems to be a little loose. Though everything worked, such as the transfer from the airport for example, I never received a confirmation, so when I've got to the airport, I had already booked another cab to take us to the hostel because I try to schedule the hostel transfer and never received an e-mail back; the surprise was to see a lady holding a piece of paper with my name written on it at the exit gate at the airport.

I had to call the hostel three times to confirm my reservation because THEY DON'T ANSWER E-MAILS -- this happened in October -- no excuse for the lack of communication.

I highly recommend it anyhow, I made a lot of friends, slept well and had hot water at all times... just, could've been less worried about some stupid issues that could have beee solved with some more attention from the owners.