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.

My impression is not many places in Santiago allow you to cook your own food (my partner is vegetarian), park your car for free, be on a safe strip in the financial area and give you a breakfast. I like the fact that the place has a separate kitchenette/living/dining space.

Everything is clean. Make sure you get a high floor (we are on #9 with a view away from the street). It is a little on the noisy side even here (#93), but put that down to basic double glazing.

Bathroom is very compact. You might be able to wash a toy poodle in the bath given it's size. But the shower is good and they do warn you about the fact that there is 45 minutes delay between every 15 minute use of hot water.

Air conditioning is excellent - slimline quiet type mounted. Balcony of 10ft x 3ft if you want to sit out.

Rooms are definitely a little 80's style and dated. But if you're less worried about staying a W style hotel and more concerned with getting great value for money and having the flexibility of free wireless, parking and a little kitchenette I recommend. Only about 5 units per floor helps. We got ours on hotels.com with a 10% discount for US$82 per night.

Oh and there's a ton of restaurants within 5 minutes walk. Enjoy.

Good:
*Great location... This hotel is in the Providencia area. You can walk anywhere and, if you don't want to walk, there is a metro (subway) station just blocks away... This is a nice/safe area.
*There are lots of great restaurants in walking distance - even right across the street from the hotel.
*The hotel has a free breakfast buffet every morning - fruit, cheese, bread, coffee, tea, cereal.
*Free wi-fi!!!!
*Super affordable!

Bad:
*As you'll read in the other reviews of this hotel - the bathroom is tiny. Really really tiny. If you're big, may not work for you. The bedroom is also small, but there's a separate living room/kitchen so it doesnt seem that bad.
*Staff is there, but just so there's a warm body behind the front desk. Don't expect much from them.
*The (only) elevator going to the 7th floor was broken during our entire stay so we had to take stairs or take elevator to 8 then walk down (or any other stair/elevator combo that would lead us to our floor). Hopefully it's fixed by now.

All in all, i would recommend this hotel because of the location and price. The size didn't bother me but I'm not a really picky person. I can get comfortable anywhere. There was also a cute little kitchenette and a balcony. If we go back, we will most definitely stay here again or at leas, in the Providencia neighborhood/area.

Our group stayed at this hotel on arrival in Chile and when departing Chile. The rooms were clean and well serviced and had adequate cooking facilities, if required. The breakfast was substantial and the dining facility very clean. Our group had considerable flight delays on departure back to New Zealand which caused big problems for those travelling on visiting permits. With out the help of the English/Spanish speaking staff member this would have been a total nightmare. This young lady went out of here way on several occasions to help us out and did flight confirmations etc which were all in Spanish, so for non speaking Spanish visitors this was a real bonus.
The location is not far from the central train station, about 7-10 minutes in a taxi and the metro close by. There were plenty of food options and a good mall close by.
Carolyn