Hotel Imperio — Hotel in Santiago

If these hotel rooms could talk...||The Hotel Imperio (not to be confused with the linked, but much more modern, Imperio Suites a five-minute walk away) is a grand old relic of a bygone age - and none the worse for that.||Even the breakfast room is dated, with a blaring TV on one wall and everyone congregating around dishes of cheese and ham, and occasionally fresh bread, in the centre.||An old boy shows you to your room and waits politely for a coin or two, the keyrings are huge - to encourage you to leave them at reception - and the reception area at the top of a long, old staircase isn't the most friendly on the planet.||There's a Fawlty Towers aspect to this hotel, which we find amusing.||Rooms are big, storage plentiful, and technically - we've tried and failed to find a way in via it - there's a disabled entrance with lift. But it isn't really a wheelchair-accessible place.||Where you'd hope there might be a roof terrace, there isn't... just staff rooms and washing lines with undies hanging on them.||But all in all it's a good, old, musty, fusty and funny place to stay. Two minutes one way you reach a metro stop, three minutes the other way, you're in the railway station.||What's...

The Imperio is housed in what looks like an Art Deco building although it may date from the 1950s. Anyway it has some nice features with a big brass plate at the entrance, wide staircases, an old-fashioned lift and massive bedrooms. The decor is looking tired and this gives a poor impression, but there's nothing else wrong with the hotel and the rooms are clean. While not situated in the city centre, it's on the Alameda near Estacion Central metro station and convenient for most of the bus terminals. There's a good-value restaurant just outside, where as well as decent pizzas they do draught beer at about...

We stayed in a second floor room that overlooked the busy street the hotel is located in. We thought that even though it did look a bit old fashioned it had character, it was comfortable and clean. We stayed over New Year's eve and we slept fine at night, so it didn't get noisy despite all the party going on. We congratulate the staff for their attentiveness and their friendliness.||The only complaint is that they need more breakfast staff and a better range of breakfast since it is quite...