Portillo is just before the border and a good place to stop for lunch or overnight. The drive is very scenic but the road is a series of switchbacks on the Chilean side and it is a major truck route to the Pacific. So the driver doesn´t get to see much unless you stop often for the view. If you spend the night in the hotel at Portillo you could have a good rest before returning. There are other places to stay on the road but basically just places people overnight and nothing special. In Los Andes there is a nice termas (hot springs) hotel

There's not really anything between Santiago and Mendoza. It's a 5 hour drive straight over the Andes plus a border crossing. It really is a beautiful drive but there aren't really towns on the way. Plenty of ski lodges but a lot of them looked permanently closed or just very old. I'm not really sure that driving halfway and turning around is worth the trouble. Mendoza is a beautiful city but if you don't want to go all the way I'd say that your time could be better spent somewhere else in Chile.

If you still want to, the border is just about halfway. Turn around there and save the trouble of crossing.

Here's a colorful report.

http://matadornetwork.com/trips/why-the-bus-from-santiago-to-mendoza-is-worth-it/

thank you, all! is the scenery equally beautiful on the chile side (to potrillo) as it is on the mendoza side? what is the hotel name in petrillo? are there places to stop on the road for views? how long will it take from santiago to portrillo hotel?

I did it once and thought it was a beautiful ride , in those days, many years ago, mat some some 30 years ago , there was a car service between both cities, Mendoza and Santiago. They picked people up from one hotel to another, door to door service. The cars were town cars and they took up to 4 pax. I still remember the rate, it was $30 dollars each way. Amazing. I wonder if still there is such a service, there might be worth checking, of course price will be different....

The hotel is the Hotel Portillo. It has a website. From Santiago it should take 2-2.5 hrs or so from Santiago. There are plenty of viewpoints.

thanks, huentetu! would love to hear from you regarding my post about "pucon or puerto varas?"