wozzanaussie

I am supposed to spend a night in Puerto Montt in late January--it'll be a stopover between two legs of a trip through Chilean, then Argentine Patagonia--and I was wondering if any of you can recommend a place to stay there. There are some interesting-looking listings in the Fodor's guide to Chile, but I figured I'd try to get some feedback on where to start calling first.

Cheers!

owlwoman

We stayed at the Hotel Club Presidente, which was ok. If I had known better, would have preferred to stay in Puerto Vargas, much more charming town on a lake, where you can also be picked up for the lake crossing, which was one of the highlights of our trip. There were two charming hotels we stopped at to pick up people for the crossing, I don't know the names, but Puerto Vargas is not that large a town. Puerto Montt was a bit industrial and a large city.

Graziella5b

If the weather is nice, NO FOG I mean, staying at Puerto Varas is great, we stayed in Cabañas del lago , which was a hotel by the lake. Very nce. Have different rates and give a discount to seniors. Puerto Varas is quaint, smaller. Easy to go from Puerto Varas to Puerto Mont, there is a local system of vans that take you for a dollar. They are very good. Ask the hotel for help how to get them

rickker20

if you like seafood make sure you try Angel Mo they have the best seafood. They are lots of little family restaurants to eat there.

JaneB

I am also planning to stay in P Montt rather than P Varas and I got an email back from Hotel Don Luis today. It looks good, is right downtown, and the price is $109US including breakfast buffet. I think I might reserve it.

Graziella5b

remember that in Chile they do offer discounts for Seniors. Just in case is good to know.

Jed

I second Cabanas in PV.

owlwoman

Jane B - Again, I highly recommend you stay in P Varas rather than P Montt.

wozzanaussie

Many thanks, all of you! I will indeed look into staying in Puerto Varas.

Cheers!

Puri

I just came back from Argentina and I did the crossing of the lakes (from Bariloche to Puerto Montt). I will tell you that it was a real nightmare. I'll be posting a message soon to tell my experience. The views that you get to see in the crossing of lakes are spectacular, but the company that does the tour is the worst. We had a 7 hour delay between ports. The guides were very unconsiderate and disorganized. We almost got killed in one of the buses that we had to take, due to the negligent behaviour of the driver. That is not something I would consider to do again. When we complained in Chile, we were told that lately they've been receiving a lot of complaints similar to ours. But, if you're still up for that trip, I would also recommend to stay at Puerto Varas. It seemed nicer than Puerto Montt. In Puerto Montt we stayed at Club Presidente Hotel and it was very nice. No complaints there. In Chile, as well as in Argentina, people are extremely nice. Our only complaint goes to that company. And the problem is that it's the only company that does the crossing. Travel agencies have to contract them to sell the trip. They are taking more tourists than they can really take and that's one of the reasons they are so little organized. In Argentina, I would recommend Bariloche, El Calafate (where the glaciers are) and Ushuaia. Hope it helps.

Jed

wozz - Be sure to tell us where you stayed and how it was.