Overall, wonderful trip. The excursions were...
Chile
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Dec 21 - Dec 30, 2022
Overall, wonderful trip. The excursions were great and the trips were well organized and planned. The hotel in Santiago (NH Ciudad de Santiago) was NOT a very nice hotel and not 4 star. I would not recommend this hotel. The tour guide in Santiago got lost herself multiple times and had us walking in the poor section of town for over 45 minutes before admitting she was lost. I would not recommend this company for the city guided tour. The hotel in San Pedro de Atacama was wonderful and the staff was very nice. Our transfer to the airport for the flight from Santiago to Calama was way too early. As such, we caught an earlier flight and had to arrange our own transportation to San Pedro de Atacama. The excursions in San Pedro were very satisfactory. Again, we had ample time arriving to the airport in Calama prior to our flight to Punta Arenas via Santiago. I believe the flight status changes quickly, but I would have recommended a later flight so as to avoid the over 3 hour lay over in Santiago. The hotel in Punta Arenas was NOT good- the staff was very rude, the beds were uncomfortable and would NOT recommend this hotel. We had a nice trip to Magellan island and the bus ride to Puerto Natales was very comfortable. We again loved our hotel in Puerto Natales. The guided tour of the National Park Torres Del Paine was nice, but the guide did not speak good English and other than the views, we did not understand anything from the explanation. The guides on our hike to the base of Torres Del Paine explained more and spoke better English. This hike was one of the highlights of the trip. On our way back through Santiago we had an 8-9 hour layover and self arranged a half day in the Hyatt Centric hotel which was very nice. The kids enjoyed Santiago much better the second time largely related to the area of town and the niceness of the hotel.
In terms of planning, in the future a more detailed outline of the excursions may be helpful. Some included breakfast which was not always noted on the itinerary.
Hotel Reviews
Beautiful views from the room. Very nice hotel.
Horrible hotel- not clean. Not in good section of town. Breakfast was good.
Wonderful hotel- clean and very nice staff.
Very rude staff. Mattresses in the rooms were very poor.
Activity Reviews
Amazing views and experience.
Guide was very nice, but she got lost more than once and took us for 45 minutes in the wrong direction around a poor area of town.
Great tour- nice staff.
One of our favorite activities. Guide did not speak much English but we were able to understand enough.
Nice tour and beautiful hike.
Amazing experience. The guide did not explain a lot. The driver seemed to know more about the area than the guide but he did not translate what the driver was saying.
This guide was GREAT! He spoke wonderful English and took time to explain things.
Kids loved seeing the penguins. Seas were too rough to go see the sea lions.
The guide did not speak good English and we did not understand anything she really said. Would recommend a different guide. The ride was pretty and we were able to see a mountain lion.
This tour was very organized despite being very large. On the itinerary it said small group. It included a nice large lunch. The lamb lunch was delicious!
These guides were great! Spoke wonderful English. There were 3 guides so the group could get broken into smaller groups based on speed.
I appreciate your comments, Kelly, and will keep them in mind for future reference. Glad to hear overall it was a great trip.
I wish your family a fabulous New Year 2023 with many more adventures to enjoy!
Best,
Lorena