According to the Lonely Planet guide, it's the "classiest" hotel to stay at in Vina del Mar, with a rating of 4 stars. The building was built in the 1930s...the oldest building in town. When we arrived, we walked past the building a few times as it looks like an old municipal building from the side. We walked in and it looked nice. Needed a little updating as the decor was more from the 70s but clean. We arrived at the front desk (the staff was helpful and nice) and noticed that pieces of the counter top needed replacing. (The hotel supposedly underwent a remodeling at the time of the writing of the Lonely Planet guide.) The elevator was cute, could fit about 3 people with two large luggages. It is an old style elevator where it needs to be manned by an operator who turns the wheel...the elevator came with a scissor gate and sliding wood door. Only four floors are being used for the hotel. Every window in the building is single-paned. The floors were all hardwood and the rooms varied in how updated they were (some with dated wallpaper and things like lavender toilets/bathtubs/sinks that were a bit of an eyesore). So far, not too bad right?

Well, they put us in a room that looked clean, with an unfamiliar cleanser smell that wasn't too unpleasant. The wallpaper was very textured and light blue everywhere. The bed was sagging a little bit and creaked when we sat down. There was a TV on a little cart with cable, and the room had a mini refrigerator. The window didn't shut completely. Still, not too bad. Definitely not what we were expecting for $100 US/night and a 4 star hotel, but still ok.

The next morning at 730a, we were awakened by a lot of noise. Considering we were on vacation and on our honeymoon, we didn't want to wake up that early. I'm a light sleeper, my husband a heavy sleeper. Let's just say we knew when people came up to the floor or left to go down to the lobby. The elevator can be heard going up and down and you can hear the scissor gates and the sliding door. Since there was no carpet, everything echoed and bounced off the walls. We could hear people talking clearly as they walked by; we heard their shoes clicking, we heard the cleaning staff rolling their cleaning carts, we heard new arrivals rolling their luggages. We could hear the staff joking around and laughing in their staff room. There are lots of stray dogs in the area outside...we heard them as well as the cars honking. We could hear the next door neighbor flush their toilet too. In the end, we asked for a different room, slightly further from the elevator, but it was only slightly better. We stayed there for 3 nights (when we were supposed to be there for 7) and ended up changing hotels.

I would think if you stayed in a room at the end of the hallway, the noise factor would probably be a lot better. But considering the high reviews it received from Lonely Planet as well as the 4 star rating, it definitely was not worth the price and definitely not worth re-experiencing.

I think the hotel was great! I had a great time there the people were nice and the service was spectacular!!!

Once a great hotel, it is now way past it's time. There's so much history here, but it's badly in need of renovation. It's in sad shape. Most rooms have too much street noise and there's an old, musty smell. Kinda like staying in an old museum. We stayed just one night and then switched hotels.

the o higgins was probably great 30 years ago, we stayed there for two nights in late march 05 , moved rooms twice , on the street side
Paza Vergara its very noisy at night from the buses and
people shouting.

The garden was unkempt , pool dirty green ,lobby looks
tired in fact the whole place looks in need of a paint job.

The blonde chilean lady who lived in Canada sorry i forgot
her name , at the reception was a standout as were the
waiters in the breakfast room.

A special mention for "JOSE" who played great songs every
morning for us, this was a first, live music in the moring
very smooth.


We wont be going back, once is enough for the O Higgins.
" DH Toronto