I was planning to stay in this hotel at the beginning of March 2011. Due to the Christchurch earthquake in February 2011 I canceled my reservation (five days before the planned arrival time, well within the hotel's cancellation policy). Nevertheless, the hotel still charged my credit card for the room.

Today (last day of May) I still haven't received a satisfactory answer from the hotel and I am disputing the charge with the credit card company.

I am disgusted by the lack of honesty and transparency exhibited by hotel management.

My travel agent booked this room for me. I know now to book my own hotel reservations using TA and will have her book international flight reservations only. The hotel is a decent place to stay if you are a heavy sleeper. Otherwise, look elsewhere for a quiet sleep and more up-scale accommodations. I will not stay here during my next visit to Santiago.

Pros: friendly and helpful staff; convenient location; free internet; free European-style breakfast.
Cons: parking garage across the street with a bell that rings EVERY time a car departs at all hours of the day; tile floors echo every door slam; no frill, basic rooms with small TV in bedroom only; smoking allowed in all rooms that may permeate into your room.

Stayed at this hotel for nearly two weeks. Generally favorable experience, but a lot of little glitches. All were resolved positively, but it did feel like one (little) thing after another. We were fortunate to get a room that did NOT face the street; otherwise, ear plugs would have been required, just due to the normal street/traffic noise and the incessant bell that rings everytime a vehicle leaves the parking garage across the street.

So the recommendation comes with small caveats ...

Positives:
-- terrific location, in a nice, active neighborhood filled with stores and restauarants, just a block or two from the Metro
-- super friendly and helpful staff (who can speak at least some English, despite what other reviewers have posted)
-- clean and generally comfortable facility (though showing its age a bit)
-- fair price (around US$90 per night)
-- complimentary breakfast and WIFI (or use of computer's 3 terminals) included
-- complimentary filtered water (we filled our water bottles daily before venturing out)

Drawbacks/glitches:
-- upon arrival, our room for 2 had enough towels only for 1 person (staff fixed immediately)
-- WIFI is tempermental and goes out intermittantly; needed to reconnect frequently; signal was not strong enough to stream multimedia, such as TV
-- kitchenette and bathroom are TINY
-- two false fire alarms on our floor, each waking us up early in the morning; we went to reception the first time and it took them a good 20 minutes to turn it off (I think it was my less-than-perfect Spanish that didn't fully explain the loud alarm blaring in the hallway across from our door); the second time, I just called reception and they took care of it immediately
-- one day, our key cards stopped working and when we were re-issued new ones (no problem), we found another set in our room -- not sure what that was about
-- sent out laundry and it came back mixed up with another guest's (probably the laundry's fault, not the hotel's; resolved immediately by staff)
-- woke up early one morning to blaring muzak coming from the speaker in the hallway; fortunately, I had read the other reviews here and knew I could just go out to the hallway and turn down the speaker; but why was it on and/or so loud in the first place?

So I'm recommending this place, but with the caveat that you might need to deal with some little things from time to time.....

The La Fayette Suites Providencia was a comfortable hotel. The best aspect was the price, I paid only $78 usd per night including taxes and breakfast, and compared to a lot of other brand name hotels in Santiago this was much cheaper. I booked my reservation directly with the hotel via e-mail. The staff was friendly and helpful. The breakfast was ok, pretty standard. The selection in the mini-bar was limited, and didn't have any alcohol. The wifi in the room was ok, but maybe a little slow by North American standards.

The rooms are suites, consisting of a small sitting area and basic kitchenette. My room was clean and comfortable enough, but the bedroom area was quite small. This was not a big issue since I was by myself, but if you are a couple you might be a little cramped as there really isn't any place to put your luggage in the bedroom. The bathrooms are also quite small, though this was not that big of a deal. If you are taller than 6'2" (185 cm), you might be too cramped in the shower though. Apparently, the hot water system only produces hot water for 15 minutes at a time, and if you use it all you will have to wait an hour for more. This wasn't an issue for me and I never ran out of hot water.

The location of the hotel is excellent, close to many good restaurants, cafés, and bars. There is a street a few blocks east of the hotel that has several bars, restaurants, and discos. It is close to 2 metro stops and several bus stops, so the rest of the city is easily accessible. There is also several large shopping areas within a few blocks. There are also several pharmacies and grocery stores nearby.

While the rooms were quite average and a little on the small side, because of the excellent price and excellent location this would be my first choice if I return to Santiago, and I would recommend it to others as well.