While visiting my brother who was studying abroad in Santiago, my parents and I snuck away for a short trip to Viña del Mar and Valparaíso. After staying in multiple hotels, we thought we would try something different...we were not disappointed. The English speaking staff was very friendly and knowledgeable and every one of their recommendations were excellent. The rooms were spacious and comfortable. The location is a little hard to find, so be sure to have a google maps print out because the cab drivers don't know the place by name. Also, keep in mind breakfast in Chile is not as big a meal as in America.

I was at Casa del Sol for five nights in March 2011. I was very warmly received by Daniela (whose English is very good, by the way), and I found the entire atmosphere to be warm and friendly among both the staff and the guests. I will definitely return to this B and B the next time I'm in Vina del Mar.

When looking at the list of amenities below, please bear in mind that this is a Band B, NOT a hotel. It was excellent value for the money, and the staff were terrific!

Ninfa is probably the worst person I have ever delt with during my travels. I had a few issues with the place that I talked to her about and she just insulted me and got defensive and didnt apologize. She made us pay the minute we walked into the hote¿l for both nights. Since we were unhappy with the place we wanted to leave the second night but of course she wouldnt give us a refund. They wouldnt lend us sugar when we made coffee, even though we saw they had sugar on the table during breakfast hours. THey are cheap cheap money hungry people and dont care about you, only your wallet.

I am going to try to be as fair as possible, but the fact is, the woman who runs this establishment deceived and swindled us. I would highly recommend people to not stay here, in retrospect we have realized that this woman sees people as dollar bills (or whatever currency you happen to trade in). In addition, the feeling of being ripped off nearly ruined our vacation, it is the very opposite feeling you want to have whilst on vacation.

First, I will describe the B&B and I will finish with an in depth description of the swindle for those who are interested.

The B&B is quite nice, it was quite clean and the ambiance was nicely done. The staff, including the manager (owner?), were very nice and helpful in advice about Vina Del Mar. The location is not optimal, its up a hill in a bit of a run down part of town. There is no view and if you have suitcases you should take a Taxi (cheap, about 3,000 pesos, 6 dollars US).
The breakfast is quite pedestrian, bread you can toast, a piece of cheese, a piece of shortbread, a yogurt, and instant coffee or tea. The breakfast is nothing special, but its relatively standard amongst all the places we stayed in Chile (5), which is a pretty good description of the B&B in general.

As for the swindle, its a bit of a long story. We originally planed to stay for 3 nights, but we decided to go back to Santiago a day early to make the trip to the airport easier. So we e-mailed the B&B in advance to try to cancel our 3rd night (a Thursday night), however we were informed that we would not be refunded our money for the night because they were not busy enough to replace the business. When we arrived, we tried to plead our case saying we really wanted to be able to get to the airport easier, and the manager told us that, regretfully, that was her policy. She then added, that if she could rent the room for the 3rd night she would give us a full refund for the night, but was confident it would not happen. At this point she misunderstood us and thought that we were leaving that 3rd night (the Thursday) to fly home, but our flight was Friday, it was more a matter of convenience for us. Without a refund we decided we couldn't afford to pay for the night and travel to Santiago and pay for another hostel, so we decided to stay that 3rd night that we paid for. On Thursday morning, the day that she thought we were flying home, she seemed rather nervous and around the standard check out time, she asked if we wanted a taxi, apologized for not being able to refund our money for the night, and told us to have a nice flight. We informed her that we would be staying for the night that we had paid for and that in actuality, our flight was on Friday. She, confused, then started to backtrack and informed us that she had rented the room and that we had to leave. Us, confused, informed her that she then owed us a refund for the night. She said, of course, and then told us that since it was a credit card payment it would be easier if she just payed for our hostel in Santiago, which she said would be the same price. We, stupidly, agreed and packed our stuff, after all, we had to pack and it was going to work out for the best for us since we wanted to go back to Santiago anyways and it would be easier for her to find the hostel than would be for us. When we arrived at the Hostel in Santiago they told us they had talked to other manager. The following morning (Friday), the Hostel owner informed us that the manager of Casa Del Sol had not transferred the payment. Concerned, we offered to pay and asked how much we should give them, and they told us the price was half of the price of Casa Del Sol. and that we didn't need to pay since they had an agreement with the manager of Casa Del Sol and it wasn't our fault (good honest people). When they saw our surprise, since Casa Del Sol had ripped us off for $~40 (half of the price of the room), they told us that when she called they were confused because she had told them to tell us that the room was $~90, but that she would be transferring the $~50 that was their rate for the night.
A cheater, liar, and a bad person. We may have only lost $~40, but it was the feeling that we had been lied to and cheated that really hurt our feelings and caused us to leave Chile with a bad taste in our mouth. Please don't stay here, if just one person passes on this place, all her swindling will be for nothing ($40 gained, business lost).