Hotel Terrado Arturo Prat Iquique

The rooms were quiet, and the hotel is right by the plaza, with the beach about a five-minute walk away. The staff were friendly, though only some spoke English. There was also a very good breakfast buffet, plus a pool, gym, and sauna.

The location is handy, right in the city center, and the place was quite clean with OK service. My room was reasonably comfortable and everything in it worked, though there was no alarm clock, microwave, or kettle. A safe and mini-fridge were tucked into the closet. There isn't parking in the building itself. The hallways are pretty dark, and the age of the place shows, especially in the bathrooms, where a drain smell came through the ventilation pipes. I liked the view of the square from my room, but the windows had hand marks on them, probably left by previous guests. I asked reception the next morning to clean them so I could enjoy the view and take pictures. The stains stayed there for the rest of my stay, so nothing was done. The pool is nice but narrow, and the gym is tiny, with a sauna at ground level. Breakfast was OK. The whole wheat bread was delicious, though there seemed to be only one or two loaves for the entire breakfast period. The chumbeques, a local cake, were good too. There was just one four-slice toaster for the whole restaurant, and it didn't seem to work very well. If you're sensitive to smells or expect good meal service, this may not be the place for you. I'd give Hotel Terrado Arturo Prat two or three stars compared with hotels in a developed country.

The restaurant was good, and the refurbished hotel has a nice interior courtyard, a pool, and a bar. It's downtown, but there are a couple of drawbacks: it has no parking of its own, and the lot it has an arrangement with can't fit all the guests' cars. Rooms facing the square also have poor sound insulation, so I'd ask for one facing inward.

No problems here. It's a convenient place with friendly people. The rooms are minimalist but comfortable, and there were plenty of towels and hot water.