Central Coast Hotels

Gran Hotel Gervasoni

Exterior

At a Glance

    Pros

  • a chance to imagine life in Valparaíso's Victorian apogee

    Cons

  • steep stairs may not suit all legs, and the views are rather spoiled by a concrete office block

Fodorite Reviews

Average Rating:  

Gran Hotel Gervasoni Review

Set in a sprawling Victorian mansion that spreads across five floors, the Gervasoni is a chance to step back in time into Valparaíso's past. Finding your room will involve navigating dark corridors and descending steep stairways, but the atmosphere is addictive. Ask to see the wine cellar below the restaurant, a dark place once used to hold slaves. The city's mind-boggling topography means that the hotel has three entrances on different floors.

    Hotel Details

  • 14 rooms.
  • Rate includes breakfast.
  • Credit cards accepted.

Fodorite Reviews

Average Rating:  
  • Room  
    Décor  
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    Value  

    Gran Hotel Gervasoni Review

    My husband and I live in Chile and decided the Gervasoni was the perfect place for our wedding. Planning and negotiations over prices went relatively smoothly. They seemed to be very accommodating with our menu preferences and other things. After we had pre paid half of the agreed price of the wedding, 5 days before the wedding they sent us a new quote stating that they had messed up with the original quote (which we had been working with for over 7 months) and "forgot" to say the open bar that written in our quote wasn't actually included. I specifically remember going over the quote line by line with the hotel, and them telling us everything was fine. This was obviously a lie and the "proof" they sent us was actually the original quote that we negotiated down. This "mistake" , which they blamed on us, increased our wedding costs by $2,000 US. They forced us to pay all the money at least the day before the wedding.

    Then at the wedding, they changed the menu we agreed on without telling us. We paid for over 800 hor d'oeurves about 4+ per person, while our friends and family said they had difficulty getting one. They served the fruit brochettes we asked for in a tin foil ball (not what I expected from a 4 star hotel and for the price we paid for these). Our room reeked of cheap air freshner that you find in motels in Chile. Our white sheets were yellow and brown from old sweat stains, gross.

    Going back to the open bar, they agreed to have three open bars. We only had one. When we asked them about this, they lied further saying they had closed them since there was no one around the respective bars. Our friends and family said they had all tried to order drinks from the closed bars, but either were refused or there was never a bartender there. When confronting them again about this they responded: "life is too short to be mad about small things like this".

    We talked to some of the staff about our experience and they said it was pretty typical of the hotel. We thought they would treat us fairly since we have mutual friends and we were their first Chilean wedding, but we were obviously wrong. Please contact me at hilarybrown91@hotmail.com if you would like more information or have any questions.

    by hbrown91, 12/8/10

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