Ladera Hotel

The rooms were comfortable, the beds were quite good, and the rooms were at least clean. The cleaning staff seemed decent and nice. But during my two-night stay, the hotel felt like it was barely keeping the lights on, despite presenting itself as a fancy boutique place. I don’t know how it can sell a boutique spa experience in this condition. The rooftop looked abandoned, with thick dust and sand everywhere. Its bar was inactive and unattended, and the chairs were cheap, mismatched plastic, some with dirty yellow cushions. There was no working bar or phone by the pool, so to order anything you had to take the elevator down, find the only person working in the restaurant, place the order, and go back up. The lobby bar also never had anyone working. When I tried to get coffee while we waited, reception sent me to the restaurant to find that same staff member. The pool itself was dangerous and falling apart. The floor was peeling away, and there were pieces of concrete at the bottom in several corners. I nearly cut my foot on one. The glass throughout the shared areas and rooms was very dirty, covered in grime, and the glass balcony door in my room was cracked. The Wi-Fi in my third-floor room, in the middle of the hotel, was completely useless. We arrived around 2:35 pm, about 25 minutes before the official 3 pm check-in. We could have waited, but no one suggested we sit by the pool or get a drink. Reception was cold too, asking for our documents like an immigration officer at the airport. At a nice hotel, I’d expect someone to greet us at the door, offer help with luggage, or provide some security. Here, we had to find the reception desk ourselves. There was no staff at the pool, either, so you couldn’t call reception from up there. I don’t usually write hotel reviews when plans go wrong, since problems are often minor or temporary. This one was on my mind as soon as I arrived. Please check the pictures I posted.

The service was really good, with lots of helpfulness and willingness to assist. Good food, a superb location for walking everywhere, and a bus stop right across the street.

The design and atmosphere are nice, and the location is great. The ladies in the breakfast area were very pleasant, and I liked having a mini snack bar in the room. Jorge was helpful when I asked for the room service menu, since there wasn’t one in the room and I had to request it, look it over, then return it. Other hotels have a printed menu or a QR code with an updated one. The Wi-Fi also kept making me sign in again while I was still in the room. There was no iron or ironing board in the room, which I wouldn’t expect to have to ask for. I didn’t have these issues at another hotel the week before. The main problem was the air conditioning. I set it to Cool at 23 Celsius, but during the day the room stayed above 25. At night, after the sun went down, it only cooled to 24. The fan ran nonstop because it couldn’t reach the set temperature. I asked the front desk to check it, and they said maintenance thought it was fine and would look again the next day. When I returned from a tour the following day, it still wasn’t working properly, and nobody followed up. I gave up and kept the curtains closed to block the sun, even though it wasn’t terribly hot outside, maybe in the 80s at most. The place looks high class but misses basic details. The bed squeaked with even the slightest movement, and there were other minor annoyances too. This was enough to take it off my list for future visits. There are better options in the Providecia area.

The location was okay, but the service felt more like a hostel than a boutique hotel. Our road-facing room was noisy, and the terrace door was stuck shut. At checkout, I asked for an invoice and was told they don't issue international invoices because the charge was in Chilean pesos. I had booked online, but my card was rejected when I arrived, so I had to pay at the desk. They added 19% because I used a debit VISA card instead of a credit card. The room cost 130 Euros a night for one person, yet there were just two filtered-water bottles and two coffee capsules on the first night. More cost extra. That seems absurd, especially since breakfast starts late and there's no complimentary coffee in the room. Breakfast was basic and scheduled for 7:30, which is inconvenient if you've booked trips around Santiago. On our last morning, the lobby was dark at 7:30 with no breakfast or coffee set up. Breakfast finally began at 7:45.