Jan 2, 2010 | Trip type: Couples We have stayed here four different times over the last decade, and also at the Cap Ducal in Santiago, so we have huge family loyalty to this hotel. It serves the best seafood, in our estimation, in all of Vina, especially any of the congrio or corvina dishes, and in the most romantic setting. Reserve a table on the second landing to see the waves crashing on the rocks and building. As their motto proclaims," We are not by the sea but in the sea." Your hotel room overlooks miles of sea and pelicans at your window and sea lions cavorting below and as far as the eye can see, there are miles of beach and the twinkling lights of Vina del Mar beyond. It is the most romantic and most desirable location. Though beside a busy highway, you only hear the wonderful crashing of waves. The woodwork throughout the hotel is lovely and even the views from the hallway are photoworthy: a view of Wulff Castle museum up the road, also on the sea, and a view of the Presidential summer palace gardens from another window.
Still, we checked out midpoint for a different hotel. Over the years there have been no improvements or little maintenance. Torn carpeting on the stairs in dining room. Police tape cordons off two 8X4 holes in the approaching sidewalk (one was there in Jan 2008) and the source is evident from your window in the room: the sea wall has two huge holes about 20 feet below and the waves are slowly eating out the understructure. Then there are the little things that many will put up with because of the views. The impossible tiny bathrooms, with doors banging against users inside. Terrifying jumps down from the very high tub and no grab bar. No place to put down, much less store, toothpaste, cosmetics, toiletries, shaver. Remember too that in Vina you need to buy water, not brush teeth from the tap, so there's no space for that. One tiny glass shelf is used up with stupid stuff --an organdy covered, satin be-ribboned tissue box. Your complimentary toiletries include a tooth-yanking shampoo packet, ditto for soap which will not open unless you have scissors or a knife. No conditioner. An electrocution-style hair dryer from the 1960's.
We have several times moved our room (they were nice about it!) because there was no space for folded clothes--just hangers for suits and dresses. In our 4th floor room wifi didn't work, though one of the two Spanish alphabet computers below worked out the front door in a cubicle. So free wifi is available but it didn't work in our room. The cable channel in English flickers, scrolls up like an ancient TV and the sound is just roaring static.
Then there is the medieval 2 person elevator. Don't get in unless someone knows to look for you at end of the ride. (1) It is a double doored affair with a child-menacing accordian interior door, which you have to close on leaving. (2) That means, you have to reach inside and manually drag the door to a close and then make sure it "clicks." If you forgot, the next rider has to take the stairs, maybe 3 or 4 floors up, close it for you before it will move. (3) Sometimes the elevator gets stuck between floors. There is no marked call button, panic button, no phone. You bang on the heavy oak-paneled walls that carry no sound; you bang your key on the exterior glass overlooking the crashing waves below. The hotel was empty when it happened to me. We immediatley checked out the next morning, and to their credit, an elevator mechanic was already making repairs as we departed.
I can't take the shabby and sometimes menacing disrepair. It is the most beautiful site in town but needs massive infusions of money to make it as comfortable as Motel 6. Still if romance with a lot of inconvenience is what you want, at a very modest price ($120--price never changes!), do phone them for a reservation. There is no website and the hotelschile web just sits on your request for weeks without booking you. A cheap phone call is the way to book. And if you don't want to hazard a room, be sure to have one grand meal at the Cap Ducal. It breaks my heart to not recommend staying at the Cap Ducal.
This review is the subjective opinion of a TripAdvisor member and not of TripAdvisor LLC
