La Ritoqueña

After weeks of discussing room setup, beds, bathrooms, payment, late check-in, and group logistics, I was told that weekend reservations required a two night minimum. That condition had never come up before, even though I'd stated the February dates from the start. The hotel had repeatedly said the dates were available, opened the calendar for me, and encouraged me to book. I'm a tour operator from Europe and contacted La Ritoqueña to consider adding it to my Chile programs. The property looked beautiful, and I was seriously thinking of bringing groups regularly. I gave the exact dates in my first message: 30 November – 1 December 2026 and 27-28 February 2027. We exchanged messages for about a month. When I raised the issue, the hotel said there was nothing they could do instead of taking responsibility for not mentioning the rule sooner. It wasted a lot of time, caused unnecessary stress, and left me unable to trust the hotel with my clients. For a professional tour operator, clear communication and reliability matter. A strict minimum stay should be explained right away, not after weeks of detailed planning. The property may be beautiful, but my experience with its communication and booking process was unreliable and unprofessional. I decided not to bring my groups there. That kind of experience is frustrating for individual travellers and a serious red flag for group organizers.