Four of us stayed 1 night at the Diego de Almagro in Puerto Montt on 05 March 2006. The hotel is brand new and had only been open 3 months, so of course everything was new and beautiful. The rooms are spacious and we had 2 double beds in each room, and a large bath with both a tub and shower, cable T.V., safe in room, mini-bar, and medium size closet. We had a car, and they provide secure, free, underground parking. The have a pool, gym, and exercise room, available free of charge, and an internet room with 3 computers and internet service is free. There is a restaurant on site, and we had dinner there. The food was excellent, emphasis on Italian cuisine, and very reasonably priced. The service was excellent and friendly, including front desk and room service, and the rate of $99UDS included the most amazing buffet breakfast I have ever encountered: fresh juices, including my favorite, raspberry; bacon, eggs, sausage, salami, salmon; 6 different breads and rolls; deserts like cheesecake, lemon meringue pie (I am not kidding!), cherry crumb cake, some cookies, etc; a half-dozen types of cereals, hot and cold; many fresh fruits such as melons, berries, etc, etc, you get the idea. It was fantastic! My son, who goes to Chile a dozen times during the year said he would always stay there. It is 10 times better than the Don Luis where he usually stays, and there is no comparison re the food. The drawback to this hotel? The only one we could think of was that we felt it was best to have a car, since the hotel is not in the center of town, and you would need to take a cab to get to the waterfront, or Angelmo to shop. There was a large mall within walking distance, but Angelmo is the cool, fun place to go for souveniers. The hotel does offer free transportation between the airport and hotel, via taxi. You have to notify them of your arrival time, they then have a taxi waiting to pick you up and bring you to the hotel, and they pay the cab. You would pay cab fare to go to the waterfront and/or Angelmo, but that would not be much. We are down there a lot, and because we wanted to go to nearby Puerto Varas on business, we had a car anyway, but would get one again, just for the convenience. I have been a travel agent for 47 years, so I think I know hotels, and this is one of the best....even better than most in Santiago.
