Hotel Isla Seca Zapallar — Hotel in Zapallar

What A.Nightmare

My friend booked 2 beach facing rooms for us during her last stay. They love this hotel. When we arrived, the concierge had us in separate bldgs with 1 room facing the trees rather than beach. The concierge eventually was helpful, but after significant time and 2 visits while we waited in the lobby because she kept interrupting attending to us to check other people out. Eventually, she agreed to have us at least in the same bld and meet our beachfacing reservation. Then she said to do that she'd upgrade one of our rooms. We also made a dinner reservation, and asked if they could accommodate a wheat allergy. She said yes. Our rooms weren't prepared so we went out for a few hours. We returned after 1600, over an hr past check in. The concierge had changed. The new concierge told us our rooms still weren't ready. We asked how that could be since it was past check in, she tried to tell us that check in was at 1600. We said it was past 1600 and showed her THEIR OWN NOTICE THAT SAYS CHECK IN IS AT 1500...

She then acknowledged that our rooms were in fact READY (???) but that we didn't get a free upgrade for one of the rooms, they changed that room AGAIN.

We finally get to our rooms. Mine was pretty dirty with a gross stained couch I did not want to touch and dust literally falling off in clumps in the bathroom. Although the hotel claims it had WiFi, when my friend's son needed it for his SAT prep, there was no wifi to be found and the concierge remained unhelpful.

That evening, concierge didn't pick up repeated phone calls when the music was too loud after midnight. It was supposed to be turned off at 2300. It wasn't until around 0200. No one was available when my friend finally went around trying to find the source of the music and a loud beeping sound. The folks setting the dining room super loudly until 0100, regardless of the fact they had guests in an adjacent room, weren't helpful and there was no concierge or security on duty, apparently. In the early hours of the morning, my friend drove her son home to Santiago because their room was unbearably hot and mosquito infested.

At check out we finally encountered someone who was competent and kind. She was appalled by our experience, especially because THEY.HAD.SPARE.ROOMS.OPEN. At least she gave my friend half off the cost of her room, though frankly, given our experience, she should've given my friend hers for free and cut mine in half because of the huge inconvenience and how it so negatively affected our stay.

The caldillo was exquisite. I'll think twice before coming here next time I'm in Zapallar, but I'll definitely be back for the caldillo. Don't get the...

I had tried to upgrade our room here as I was concerned that the standard room would have low ceilings but was told they were full. Unfortunately our concerns about the room were justified as the ceilings were very slanting and the bathroom door was too low for my partner. I banged my head several times, in the end we had to move the bed which helped a bit.||Our room was in a separate building across a rough path and then we had to lug our suitcase up two flights of stairs as there is no lift, in fact there are a lot of steps everywhere here so be aware.||The room was pleasant enough with a lovely view and a small balcony which meant we could have the door open at night and listen to the waves. This cooled the room down well (although the staff put the heating on!). There is no AC and I think these rooms would be very hot in summer. There was a fridge, but no room safe despite the website saying there is.||The area is beautiful and we enjoyed the coastal paths, there is a steep footpath to the shore or you can walk along the road to the beach. Breakfast was reasonable with good scrambled eggs and warm savoury croissants but they wanted to charge me for a decaffeinated coffee which seems mean.||The pool is basically all there is of the garden and was not heated. On the day we were there it started foggy so we didn't swim. The coastal walks are lovely. The town has very basic facilities but it seems most people come here for restaurant Chiringo which is fabulous in food and view but equally pricy.||We had to leave early and they helpfully gave us a box breakfast the...

We thought the charm of this vintage boutique hotel was in its art-deco style, picturesque ocean-view setting and well-appointed rooms. All of that is true but the personal service is the real prize at Hotel Isla Seca. After we experienced a car break-in/robbery in town and returned frazzled to the hotel, we got incredible support from the staff—assisting us with numerous complicated phone conversations (that our Spanish was too limited to handle) to police departments and the car rental company, moving the car to their secure parking, supplying and installing plastic to cover our broken car window, and even providing a much-needed drink. We can’t thank Gaston, Barbara, Berenice, Cristina and others enough for helping us to feel safe and cared for. The serene atmosphere and gorgeous setting helped us to relax after our mishap. Hotel Isla Seca is truly a haven. The restaurant is outstanding, as well. We enjoyed many meals there, hardly eating anywhere else in our three days...