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 4 star hotel!