This was our second trip to S America, but the first to Chile.
Having researched a little in this site, (and others), I chose the Hotel San Martin.
I'm either brilliant, or very lucky...because what an absolute delight it turned out to be!
We were there during the music festival, (the last week of February every year). Having never even heard about it before, it was a huge surprise to us. Thousands come to VDM for the Festival every year, from all around S America...it's the biggest music festival there is in this part of the world
Why am I telling you this? Simply to try and put the circumstances that surrounded our stay in the Hotel San Martin into perspective. The hotel was full, VDM was full, everywhere was full. A busy, bustling, happening place
This year, (in no particular order), Tom Jones, Bryan Adams and Ricky Martin were the headliners famous in the english speaking world. La Oreja de Van Gogh, Anna Torroja, Los Tres and many others were more familiar to the "locals" (and the younger crowd), than to us.
Suffice it to say, the whole town rocks during that week
The Hotel San Martin is located as close to the beach as you can get, closer than any other hotel except the Sheraton. However, when I researched prices, the HSM was WAAAAAY less expensive than the Sheraton.
It's rated 4 stars. OK... I wouldn't argue with that, but what an absolutely fantastic 4 star hotel it is!
Other posts and reviews on this site here have properly described the breakfast buffet, size of rooms etc..I don't need to repeat that detail. I would however point out that the only rooms with balconies are the ones with Ocean View. They also tend to be the bigger rooms also.
It's time to address the the noise issue that some people have commented on. Yes, as you might imagine, you can hear noise at night from the steeet below, but you soon get used to it. And let's face it, the crashing of the waves thundering against the rocks less than 100 yards away is noise too!
Noise from the street below? Yes, of course, let's just think about this for a second. This is S America, and the culture is that people get up late, and stay up late. It's the exact opposite of N America. If you're there on vacation, just chill out and go with the flow. A change is as good as a rest they say!
And yes, surprisingly, I do have one thing to say that isn't 100% positive. The breakfast buffet is very good, with excellent quality. But they do need to change it up a little though. After 10 days it got just a tad monotonous
The staff are wonderful, extremely professional, courteous, yet very friendly at the same time. You just have to talk to them!
You don't speak Spanish? Don't worry. Andrea at the Concierge desk is completely bi-lingual, as are many of the front desk staff
And you don't need transportation from the HSM to the center of town either. It's just a pleasant 10-15 minute stroll, past a lot of restaurants for every taste and budget.
Don't feel like going out to eat? The hotel restaurant is great value too, offering a superb three course prix fixe for about U$16 at most, which includes a drink. Friday and Saturday nights feature a dinner dance with live band..about U$25
If you're the type of person that wants the comfort and convenience of your typical N American hotel room, but with a generous helping of Latin American flavor, look no further.
I could go on for hours, about the perfect little canape plates served in the cocktail bar, about how the Chileans adore their Pisco Sour, and about Chilean seafood. Ahh, Chilean seafood...muy rico!
But by now, you should have got the message that we loved the Hotel San Martin...clever you!!!
Now, just make your reservations there and enjoy
And if you have specific questions....just e-mail me
This review is the subjective opinion of a TripAdvisor member and not of TripAdvisor LLC.