Hosteria Tyndall - Torres del Paine
Mar 10th, 2015, 07:11 AM
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Hosteria Tyndall - Torres del Paine
Hello travellers. I will tell you about a bad place to stay in Torres del Paine. Maybe this story will prevent some people from staying there like I did. Here it goes:
We stayed in the cabin (cabaña), which is pretty and has an amazing view. But we had serious problems in our stay in Tyndall, because of the terrible service. I will try to summarize.
We arrived and were allocated the cabaña 9. The front desk girl gave us the key, without guidance and without offering any help with luggage (the car can not reach the cabaña). Then my wife tried to take a shower and there was no hot water. In addition, the cabaña was ice cold (it was late afternoon, the temperature was dropping quickly), it was obvious that the heating was not ok. The cabaña has no phone, so to contact the reception you need to walk there (it's a hell of a cold at night, even more complicated if it's raining). They sent a man to fix the heat, but the problem continued. They kept teeling us that the water would heat up but it would “take a while”... So we could not shower and rest, we were very tired from the trip. At last my patience was over, I went to the reception require new cabaña (the night had already fallen and it was very cold in the cabaña, besides not having hot water, no condition at all to spend the night there).
So we were given the key to the cabaña 7. We had to carry the lugagge on our own, at 10 pm in absolute darkness, no help at all, we were lucky to have a flashlight (without it would have been quite impossible to carry the bags in complete darkness to the new cabaña). Also, we were lucky it was not raining yet, it started to rain right after we made the move. No one from the hotel offered help to move, at any time, and no one came to ask if everything was OK, if the cabaña was heated, etc. A disregard as I had never seen before.
OK the cabaña had 7 heating, but just like the cabaña 9, it had a disgusting cleaning, without exaggeration. The drawers with kitchen utensils were filthy. The floor was pretty dirty with dead bugs and dirt accumulated in the corners. Some greasy utensils. The bathroom has a bad smell and the clogged drain in the shower, flooding everything, just disgusting. Anyway, cleaning was terrible.
So be warned, in Tyndall you depends on luck: if you're lucky, you get to enjoy the view in peace (still in the middle of the filth). If you have some bad luck and your heating fails, you are on your own. You have no phone to call reception, have to go out in the dark and rain to deal with unprepared attendants. They just don't seem to care. The reception closes at midnight, and if your heating fails after that, you're doomed, you will have a terrible night to say the least. Anyway, "good luck." I plan to return to Torres del Paine and there's no way I'm going to stay on Tyndall again.
We stayed in the cabin (cabaña), which is pretty and has an amazing view. But we had serious problems in our stay in Tyndall, because of the terrible service. I will try to summarize.
We arrived and were allocated the cabaña 9. The front desk girl gave us the key, without guidance and without offering any help with luggage (the car can not reach the cabaña). Then my wife tried to take a shower and there was no hot water. In addition, the cabaña was ice cold (it was late afternoon, the temperature was dropping quickly), it was obvious that the heating was not ok. The cabaña has no phone, so to contact the reception you need to walk there (it's a hell of a cold at night, even more complicated if it's raining). They sent a man to fix the heat, but the problem continued. They kept teeling us that the water would heat up but it would “take a while”... So we could not shower and rest, we were very tired from the trip. At last my patience was over, I went to the reception require new cabaña (the night had already fallen and it was very cold in the cabaña, besides not having hot water, no condition at all to spend the night there).
So we were given the key to the cabaña 7. We had to carry the lugagge on our own, at 10 pm in absolute darkness, no help at all, we were lucky to have a flashlight (without it would have been quite impossible to carry the bags in complete darkness to the new cabaña). Also, we were lucky it was not raining yet, it started to rain right after we made the move. No one from the hotel offered help to move, at any time, and no one came to ask if everything was OK, if the cabaña was heated, etc. A disregard as I had never seen before.
OK the cabaña had 7 heating, but just like the cabaña 9, it had a disgusting cleaning, without exaggeration. The drawers with kitchen utensils were filthy. The floor was pretty dirty with dead bugs and dirt accumulated in the corners. Some greasy utensils. The bathroom has a bad smell and the clogged drain in the shower, flooding everything, just disgusting. Anyway, cleaning was terrible.
So be warned, in Tyndall you depends on luck: if you're lucky, you get to enjoy the view in peace (still in the middle of the filth). If you have some bad luck and your heating fails, you are on your own. You have no phone to call reception, have to go out in the dark and rain to deal with unprepared attendants. They just don't seem to care. The reception closes at midnight, and if your heating fails after that, you're doomed, you will have a terrible night to say the least. Anyway, "good luck." I plan to return to Torres del Paine and there's no way I'm going to stay on Tyndall again.
Mar 10th, 2015, 11:51 AM
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This does not sound like the Hosteria Tyndall I know. To be clear, no one carries your luggage when you stay in cabins anywhere in Chile. It is not a hotel.
When you lodged your complaints with the manager/owner, as I assume you did, what was their solution?
When you lodged your complaints with the manager/owner, as I assume you did, what was their solution?
Mar 12th, 2015, 08:37 AM
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Hello Huentetu.
I'm glad you had a better experience there. To be honest we were able to have a nice time too, after all the trouble.
The solution I already told you, they gave us the key to another cabin and that was it.
In the day after that, we said to the manager that cabin 9 was terrible, ice cold and stuff, and all he did was smile, he did not take it very seriously. Few days later we saw some people checking in cabin 9... pity.
If you don't believe me, just read the reviews on booking website, there are many complaints about the heating, some of them pretty serious.
I'm glad you had a better experience there. To be honest we were able to have a nice time too, after all the trouble.
The solution I already told you, they gave us the key to another cabin and that was it.
In the day after that, we said to the manager that cabin 9 was terrible, ice cold and stuff, and all he did was smile, he did not take it very seriously. Few days later we saw some people checking in cabin 9... pity.
If you don't believe me, just read the reviews on booking website, there are many complaints about the heating, some of them pretty serious.
Mar 12th, 2015, 10:27 AM
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I did look at the Tripadvisor reviews and, to be honest, they are pretty good. There seem to be newer cabins as mention was made of underfloor heating and most said the cabins were warm, without specifying which cabin they were in. A couple mentioned hot water issues.
The options inside the park are at two extremes: a shared dorm with bunk beds or a luxurious and massively expensive hotel. The Rio Serrano area, just outside the park, is about the only area with more reasonable costs and some of the best views. I am glad you rose above the problems and had a good time anyway.
The options inside the park are at two extremes: a shared dorm with bunk beds or a luxurious and massively expensive hotel. The Rio Serrano area, just outside the park, is about the only area with more reasonable costs and some of the best views. I am glad you rose above the problems and had a good time anyway.
Mar 12th, 2015, 11:37 AM
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Yes my friend we really had a good time indeed. But not because of tyndall, that's for sure.
I'm sorry that you do not believe me, but that's ok. Maybe if you could read 4 languages like me, you could read more reviews. There are some pretty disturbing.
Yes, there are very good reviews too, and I went to tyndal because of those positive reviews, obviously. But I did not get so lucky.
I'm sorry that you do not believe me, but that's ok. Maybe if you could read 4 languages like me, you could read more reviews. There are some pretty disturbing.
Yes, there are very good reviews too, and I went to tyndal because of those positive reviews, obviously. But I did not get so lucky.
Mar 13th, 2015, 07:24 AM
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I didn't say I didn't believe you, just that your experience seemed outside the average. Each person's experience is made up of many things and unique to them. The size of the acceptable gap between what we expect and what we actually get differs. No heating and no hot water is acceptable to me in such a remote setting if it is temporary. A dirty room is unacceptable anywhere and for any length of time. As I mentioned, no one carries your luggage when you stay in cabins. I can see that if you expected that you would be disappointed.
I don't think that the reviews will vary much by language - I am only fluent in three but have only read them in two - aside from certain cultural differences, i.e. Americans tend to want larger rooms, for instance, although those who have travelled more tend to accept smaller rooms in other countries.
As avrooster said, this isn't a trip report and you should post in review pages if you want people to know of your experience at Tyndall.
I don't think that the reviews will vary much by language - I am only fluent in three but have only read them in two - aside from certain cultural differences, i.e. Americans tend to want larger rooms, for instance, although those who have travelled more tend to accept smaller rooms in other countries.
As avrooster said, this isn't a trip report and you should post in review pages if you want people to know of your experience at Tyndall.
