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Hotel Suggestions for San Antonio, Chile


spcl4cs_gal
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We are on a South America cruise next winter and are also looking for a place to stay in San Antonio. We like to stay in the city of embarkation so we don't have to worry about weather, transportation strikes, etc. I'll be watching to see if more suggestions are forthcoming on this post! There's not many recommended hotels in San Antonio and the ratings are poor. Because the use of the port of San Antonio is a recent development, we are hoping some of this year's travelers will do reviews of their accommodations.

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On the Zaandam's 12/15/17 sailing from San Antonio, I met an Australian couple who had stayed at a hotel in the port city. The hotel was connected to a casino, as I recall them saying, and they were satisfied with their experience at that property. Sorry, but I don't recall the name of the property.

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  • 2 weeks later...

Having just experienced San Antonio, I would agree that Santiago is the far nicer place to stay and far more to see and do. Just allow lots of time for your transfer to San Antonio as there is a lot of traffic in their summer time as this is a beach resort/industrial area past its prime .We arranged for a private transfer with a group from our roll call the morning of the cruise and included a stop at a winery on the way which was absolutely lovely.

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We are on a South America cruise next winter and are also looking for a place to stay in San Antonio. We like to stay in the city of embarkation so we don't have to worry about weather, transportation strikes, etc. I'll be watching to see if more suggestions are forthcoming on this post! There's not many recommended hotels in San Antonio and the ratings are poor. Because the use of the port of San Antonio is a recent development, we are hoping some of this year's travelers will do reviews of their accommodations.

We just got back Monday from an NCL 16 day cruise from San Antonio to Miami. We stayed in San Antonio at a boutique hotel called the Terra Mia. We really liked it. It is perched on the hillside overlooking the port, brand new, family owned and inexpensive ($75 US cash at Booking.com). The draw backs are the rooms are very small, but adequate for a night's stay. It is a bit noisy, as the train is down the hill and blows it's whistle when it goes through. I could also hear the sea birds below. But the train is right next to the casino hotel at the bottom of the hill (I'm told the casino is the only "real" hotel in town), so I would think you would hear the train there also. I don't recall hearing the train at night, just during a nap when we first arrived.

But we loved this little hotel. It's brand new, as I said, and was built specifically for the cruise ships now coming in. It's lovely. It has only 6 rooms. We were warmly greeted at the door, helped up the stairs with the suitcases (There is no elevator, but there is only one floor up and they will bring up your suitcases.) The family was having lunch in the breakfast room when we arrived and all said hello and introduced themselves. Really lovely people. The breakfast room (but guests gathered, sat and talked there all day) overlooks the harbor below. Breakfast was served by the family and was delicious. We lingered and talked until after noon. You can climb down the stairs next to the hotel down to the harbor area below where there is a fish market with pelicans and sea lions laying nearby. Also in the harbor area are many vendors with their offerings spread out on blankets and in carts. The family who owns the hotel also have a restaurant nearby. We tried another restaurant on 21 de Mayo St #274 (just below the Terra Mia) called Logrono Restaurant. It also looks out on the harbor. The charming man who served us, didn't speak English, but had a menu with English under the Spanish. The steak was the best we have ever had. The door to the restaurant is located up a set of enclosed stairs into a courtyard. It's not Santiago by any stretch of the imagination, but I think San Antonio was great for a night's stay.

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Thanks very much for that detailed response, papasprep! I had found Hotel Terra Mia on Tripadvisor but it had only 6 reviews so I was a bit hesitant. We will definitely keep it in mind.

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Hi. We have stayed in Santiago and in San Antonio. If you have more than one night, definitely head to Santiago. But if you are arriving only one day earlier than embarkation, the hotel connected to the casino in San Antonio (it goes by several names) is absolutely fine! There’s lots of wildlife-viewing because of the massive sea lions that live on the beach beneath the hotel and the pelicans that fly all around. The local fish-market on the beach is interesting: everything is done by rowboat. And we found the people who worked at the hotel to be very pleasant. For example, they invited us to eat at the free hotel buffet both on the day we arrived and the day we departed. I’m not sure why the hotel gets such crummy reviews, to be honest. We expected it to be much worse than it was and, really, it was fine.

 

 

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We also just got back from our South American tour and we stayed at the Pacifico del Casino in San Antonio; (the hotel that is attached to the casino and shopping mall). We were very happy with our stay there. It was very clean with large rooms to handle all the luggage. The view was amazing as it overlooks the harbour. As Lauren and John stated, you will see wildlife such as huge Sea Lions, Pelicans and other water birds. San Antonio is a "working man's" town, but they have an amazing market that sets up everyday along the walkway by the ocean. Also, there was a lovely and refreshing breeze the whole time we were there (we stayed 2 nights in San Antonio), we had heard from others who had stayed in Santiago before the cruise; they mentioned the heat and humidity. We are Canadians and do not do so well in the humidity (we are not from Toronto). The free breakfast in the hotel was more than adequate - no complaints. The hotel is also easy walking distance to downtown and we also walked to our cruise ship - which took half an hour of easy walking.

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We just returned from a 16 night cruise from San Antonio, Chile to Miami. We stayed four nights in San Antonio at the wonderful Hotel Mellatti. Our room had an amazing view of the harbor and we had a delicious breakfast every morning. The owners, Marcelo and Cecilia, were very kind, caring and helpful. We had a wonderful stay and would highly recommend this family run hotel. The location was excellent with easy access to the Bellamar seaside promenade, the huge and modern Arauco Mall, the fish market where we saw lots of sea lions, and also the main street of downtown. We also enjoyed taking a tourist boat around the harbor.

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  • 2 weeks later...

Everyone keeps recommending Santiago and San Antonio and not even mentioning Valparaíso. Valparaiso is the place to stay before and after a cruise. There are plenty of great hotels and restaurants. The fauna Hotel, Hotel Acontra Luz, The Zero Hotel, Cirol Armstrong, Casa Higueras, Hotel Sommerscales, Hotel Manor Atkinson.

 

The drive from Valparaiso to San Antonio is only an hour.

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Everyone keeps recommending Santiago and San Antonio and not even mentioning Valparaíso. Valparaiso is the place to stay before and after a cruise. There are plenty of great hotels and restaurants. The fauna Hotel, Hotel Acontra Luz, The Zero Hotel, Cirol Armstrong, Casa Higueras, Hotel Sommerscales, Hotel Manor Atkinson.

 

The drive from Valparaiso to San Antonio is only an hour.

 

One reason Valparaiso is not being mentioned often is because most, if not all, cruise ships are using San Antonio as the embarkation/disembarkation port currently.

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  • 3 weeks later...

Wondering about flying into San Antonio, getting to a hotel, and then to the port. Hotel have shuttle?? many have mentioned, get dropped at port entrance, walk to ship?? can anyone who has gone out of San Antonio share. We are going out Jan 6, 2019, Celebrity-around the Horn. thanks

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Wondering about flying into San Antonio, getting to a hotel, and then to the port. Hotel have shuttle?? many have mentioned, get dropped at port entrance, walk to ship?? can anyone who has gone out of San Antonio share. We are going out Jan 6, 2019, Celebrity-around the Horn. thanks

 

SCL airport is Santiago Chile.

 

Many are staying in Santiago pre cruise-then transfer to ship in San Antonio-about a 90 min. drive, I believe.

Join your Roll Call and see what others are doing.

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Thanks, we are doing the roll call for that cruise. Have been to Santiago before and transfer to port, with stop at vineyard. Because this is a new port for Celebrity, we are all looking for info about the port?? Walk to check-in??from port entrance-- thanks for suggestion.

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Thanks, we are doing the roll call for that cruise. Have been to Santiago before and transfer to port, with stop at vineyard. Because this is a new port for Celebrity, we are all looking for info about the port?? Walk to check-in??from port entrance-- thanks for suggestion.

 

Sorry, I misunderstood. I see you want port information and a hotel in San Antonio with a shuttle to the port.

There have been a couple of threads on this forum mentioning hotels.

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When we stayed at the Hotel Mellatti in San Antonio this past February, one of the owners drove us to the port for free. It took less than 10 minutes. She dropped us off at the terminal where we checked in and waited for boarding time. We then boarded a bus for a 5 minute ride to the ship. It was very easy and efficiently done.

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Thank You so much. It sounds like the port is not as difficult as others on our roll call make it--they had us thinking we had to walk and pull our luggage from an entrance gate to the terminal, quite a distance.:cool: Appreciate the info on the small hotels and friendly people also. Have nice weekend!

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You're welcome, Vero Granny!

 

Although San Antonio is mainly a cargo port, the people there have gone out of their way to welcome the cruisers. The place where Cecilia (from the Hotel Mellatti) dropped us off was right at the cruise terminal, and there were many friendly employees waiting right there who would have taken our luggage to check it in.

 

Since we always travel with only a rolling carry-on size suitcase and a shoulder bag (one each), we said no thanks, and walked a very short distance from the drop off point to the terminal entrance. The big green terminal looked like a warehouse, and was very efficiently organized. A man at the entrance pointed us to the hand-sanitizing station, and then advised us to have a seat and wait for the check-in process to begin. There were lots of chairs available, and nobody had to stand up. After a short wait, we got in line for check-in. There were many agents at a long counter, everyone very friendly and helpful. We got our boarding passes and were given a number for boarding. We then went to sit down again for a while until our number was called.

 

There are bathrooms in the terminal (which I used and which were very clean and nice). When our number was called, we walked outside to a line of waiting buses. The driver put our bags in the compartment under the bus, we sat down, and within five minutes we were at the gangway to the ship.

 

We were on the Norwegian Sun which left San Antonio on Feb. 17, 2018 bound for Miami via the Panama Canal. We were extremely impressed with the people of San Antonio and with the boarding process at the passenger terminal.

 

Like you, I had many questions about San Antonio, the hotels, the port, and the boarding process before we went. At that time, there was limited information on these boards, so I am happy to help.

 

Enjoy your cruise!

 

Barbara

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Thank you so much--since we have been to Santiago and Valparaiso, this sounds good for day or two before departure, I will look into your mentioned hotel. It is months off, but nice to be started on details. Just one last question--we are in Florida so flying from Orlando, or South Fla. airports our best options. We did the trans from Valparaiso years ago on Princess to Miami. We may book through Celebrity or on our own--any airline you took--you like?? Pricing may be a lot more going into smaller airport----Thanks again! Marge

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Hello Vero Grammy,

 

I booked our airfare at least nine months before our flight. I researched all the possibilities at that time, and got a pretty good deal on Delta (around $500.00 per person). To do it, we had to fly from Ft. Lauderdale to Atlanta, change planes, and then nonstop to Santiago. We were willing to do it for the price, and all went very well.

 

I know that booking air through the cruise line is usually a good deal. We did it once through Royal Caribbean flying from Miami to Barcelona.

 

By the way, when you say smaller airport, I'm not sure what you mean because Santiago is the only choice to fly into.

 

Regarding transportation to the port, we had three options:

 

1. Take the bus from the airport to downtown Santiago (Alameda Station), and then take another bus to San Antonio..

 

 

2. Arrange private transportation through a private company (I looked at Trip Advisor for some possibilities).

 

3. Take advantage of the Hotel Mellatti's transfer service. We still had to pay, but it seemed like an easier option, so that is what we did. Cecilia (from the hotel) picked us at Santiago airport (she was waiting for us with a sign with my name on it), and took us to the hotel in her comfortable air-conditioned car, and it was very easy.

 

We used to always take the cheaper options, but now that we are getting older, we decided to spend a little extra for the hotel transfer, and we are so glad we did. The ride from the airport to San Antonio is about an hour and a half on a very nice and modern road.

 

Although Cecilia took us from the hotel to the port for free, there was a charge for the airport pickup, but well worth it in our opinion.

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We just returned from a 16 night cruise from San Antonio, Chile to Miami. We stayed four nights in San Antonio at the wonderful Hotel Mellatti. Our room had an amazing view of the harbor and we had a delicious breakfast every morning. The owners, Marcelo and Cecilia, were very kind, caring and helpful. We had a wonderful stay and would highly recommend this family run hotel. The location was excellent with easy access to the Bellamar seaside promenade, the huge and modern Arauco Mall, the fish market where we saw lots of sea lions, and also the main street of downtown. We also enjoyed taking a tourist boat around the harbor.

Would you happen to know if there was somewhere nearby the hotel to buy wine and liquor for bringing onboard the ship? Thanks!

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