Hotel Montecarlo — Hotel in Viña del Mar

I'll start this review with the good things about Hotel Montecarlo.||||Location:||The location is excellent! You can't get much better than this. It's right in front of Reñaca beach, accross the road from a drugstore and a market, which are very useful when you're travelling light and have to buy things when you arrive. There are also restaurantes and bars around the hotel. And considering I thought the food in Viña was really disappointing, I was really happy to see a Subway meters away from the hotel. It also is just a quick bus (micro) ride from downtown and other beaches.||||Staff:||Receptionist Diego went out of his way to help us with what we needed. Maids were also great and when met us in the hallways, always asked if the room was good or if there was anything else we needed. ||||Breakfast:||Although simple, comprised only of breads, jams, butter, cakes, pies and the sorts (no cooked breakfast like Americans and British might like, with eggs, bacon and pancakes), it was consistently the best meal of our day every day.||||Now on to the bad:||||Room:||There's no air conditioner in the rooms. I never noticed while making a reservation if the hotel stated the existence of a/c or not, because I never stayed in a hotel that didn't have it. Well, this hotel doesn't have it and that meant we slept with the window open every night, as the heat was too much for us (and I'm Brazilian...).||||Noise:||Due to the prime location, there are clubs and parties all around. And as we were sleeping with the window open, the noise was bothersome. Waking up to drunk people singing at the bus stop right in front of our window at 4am was not fun!||||Premises:||The hotel is old and needs updating. Elevators are 'violent' and close while people are still coming in and out, televisions have bad image and remotes that don't work well, reception is very dark. The pool area is depressing, it is definitely the part that needs attention the most. It needs painting, the glasses around the area need to be changed as they don't all match but, most of all, it needs cleaning!! That are areas of the pool floor that have so much algae they feel slimey! You can see the green on the pool walls and floor. On the plus side, it was heated and we did spend a lot of time there, but I definitely avoided some parts of it.||||Taking it all into account, it is a cheap place in a great location. Considering it was just US$ 131/night for a superior room with a great view, it wasn't so bad. But definitely not a...

Excelente ubicación, hotel con un concepto antiguo de la hotelería, ya demuestra la necesidad imperante de moderinzacuon en todos sus espacios, tiene detalles importantes de humedad en las habitaciones, el personal de la recepción es eficiente aunque les falta modos más atentos hacia el huésped y un aspecto de presentación estandarizado para dar la talla de un 4 estrellas, esta vez se veían desaliñados, y pendientes del celular mas que a prestar servicio al huesped con atencion. El personal del desayunador ha desmejorado un poco, y el desayuno buffet ha bajado mucho en calidad y por sobre todo, en variedad de productos, y continuan sin opciones de productos sin gluten. Gimnasio pequeño y piscina climatizada no muy grande pero muy útil en la última planta. Solo las suites tienen frigobar. No tienen aire acondicionado ni tienen ventiladores, confiados en que tienen clima muy templado, si hace calor puede ser un problema al tener ventanas de apertura limitada. Al estar frente al Estero, puede haber invasión de mosquitos en la habitación como me pasó a mi que, literalmente, no me.dejaron dormir la primer noche. Ante la queja, me dieron la opción de cambiar a una habitación más amplia en el sexto piso y con eso, más un insecticida, mejoró mucho la experiencia del alojamiento. Hoy por hoy, es un hotel que se quedó en los 80's o 90's y no se actualizo más. Requiere serias inversiones en áreas comunes, y habitaciones para empezar. Más allá de eso, siempre ganará por su ubicación a 100...

While this hotel is in a central location, it desperately needs updating. Decor is quite shabby and could do with at least a lick of paint, change if window dressings and new bed spreads.|Noise is also another issue whether from the busy road outside or from around the hotel itself...could hear showers running from rooms above me and every noise from hallway due to gap at bottom of our door.|Not worth the price tag. Had planned to stay here a number of nights but cut...