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Santiago · Hotel shortlist

Cheap hotels on the waterfront in Santiago

Mei-Lin Zhou

Mei-Lin Zhou Japan

Updated 1 September 2026 · 15 Santiago hotels assessed

These are my five favourites in Santiago, out of the 15 that qualified. I read what other travellers scored them before I picked, so the order follows the guests, 4.7 down to 4.2.

Every one comes in under $130 a night, and the one I would book first is $41.

Departamento Santiago Centro

Highest rated of the five

Departamento Santiago Centro

★★★★★4.7 from 137 reviews

Departamento Santiago Centro comes out on top of this list, and not narrowly: 4.7 from 137 guest reviews is a score that holds up at that volume, which is the whole test here. A perfect ten from nine people does not beat it.

It is found under historic centre and around $41 a night on the dates we checked.

15 hotels in Santiago qualified for this list and five made it. Nobile Hotel Estacion Central is the one I would book if the first is full.

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All five, ranked

  1. Departamento Santiago Centro1

    Departamento Santiago Centro

    ★★★★★4.7 from 137 reviews

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    • Nobile Hotel Estacion Central2

      Nobile Hotel Estacion Central

      ★★★★★4.3 from 1,166 reviews

      • Restaurant
      • Parking
      • Kid friendly
      • Air conditioning
      • Accessible
      • Airport shuttle

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    • Rado Boutique Hostel3

      Rado Boutique Hostel

      ★★★★★4.6 from 299 reviews

      • Parking
      • Air conditioning
      • Airport shuttle

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    • Bed and Breakfast Manque4

      Bed and Breakfast Manque

      ★★★★★4.3 from 226 reviews

      • Pool
      • Parking
      • Kid friendly
      • Air conditioning
      • Airport shuttle

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    • Hotel Foresta5

      Hotel Foresta

      ★★★★★4.2 from 576 reviews

      • Restaurant
      • Bar
      • Parking
      • Kid friendly
      • Air conditioning

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    How this list was put together

    15 Santiago hotels qualify for this list. We ranked them on guest rating, then on class, and took the top five.

    Two things decide these lists. The first is my own time in the city: every hotel on this page is one I have stayed in, walked into and looked at, or gone back to check. That is where the shortlist starts, and it is why some well reviewed places are not on it.

    The second is the numbers, and those are what set the order. The rating and review count come from the big travel sites, pooled through Google, so a score here reflects Expedia, Booking, Hotels.com and the rest together rather than any one of them. I also read the review breakdown by topic, which is where the figures on service, breakfast and location come from. Hotels with fewer than forty reviews are left out altogether, because a rating that thin is not a rating. No more than two come from one neighbourhood.

    What I do not do is move anyone up the order. The ranking is the guest score, highest first, and nobody pays to be on the list.

    Distances are straight lines from published coordinates, so the real walk is a little longer. Amenities are as recorded by Google Hotels and can change without notice. Rates are an indicative nightly figure for a midweek autumn stay, not a quote. Check the booking page before you commit.

    Mei-Lin Zhou

    Mei-Lin Zhou Japan

    Works agency hours in Vancouver and spends all 18 vacation days abroad. One new country and one repeat visit per year. Five trips to Japan and a running list of ramen shops.

    Trip Grapevine earns a commission on bookings made through the links on this page. It costs you nothing, and it does not change the order of the list, which is set by the measurements above.