Review: Ritz-Carlton Santiago, Chile (I'm Conflicted)

Uneven, indeed. Nice lunch menu.

Great review. I don't know, for the cost it seemed like a great stay. I actually struggle with your hotel reviews the most because value to cost is important to me. 259USD a night (I am not including your club upgrade), with the 100USD credit at the stars rate is remarkable for a Ritz that offers 90% of what most city Ritz's provide. Yes it would be nice if the receptionist was nicer, but is that worth an extra 800 dollars a night like your local FLL Ritz? Also I can't think of an 'amazing' Ritz Carlton in the western hemisphere that isn't a Reserve.

It is why sometimes I am mildly critical of your free/cheao stays through your husband. They totally have value and you absolutely should review even in those opportunities but the value to cost standpoint is compromised. The more I pay, the more I expect.

Le Reve.

We stayed at the W right down the street recently. It was a toss up between these two properties and we were extremely happy with the W. Room was massive and modern, also had a huge balcony which was a plus. Onsite restaurants were great and the rooftop pool/bar had great views. Added bonus was the rental car return was located on the first floor on this property so dropping that off after our journey down south to vineyards was incredibly convenient.

@ Andrew -- In fairness, the rate was especially low the night I was staying (probably because it was a holiday), and on other dates the property sometimes goes for $300-500 per night.

But if you take out the club lounge, and if you consider service wasn't great, what really makes this hotel superior to your average four-star property? It's certainly not room decor, or the design of public spaces. If you book through a program like Marriott STARS you can at least get breakfast, but for Bonvoy members who redeem points, they'll get even less value here.

But I totally agree with you that it's worth considering the value you get with a stay. You're absolutely right that so many luxury properties just don't offer value anymore. They can get away with charging high rates, and people will pay them. But if you actually want value for money, well, that can be tough...

Not Ritz-Carlton level, but for some reason that first photo of the lobby with the plant appealed to me... maybe I'm getting older and more nostalgic, lol

Same, the lobby looks very classy to me.

We have stayed there 5 times over a decade and love the place. Their concierge arranged all sorts of things for us.

I think you aren’t used to cultural differences. That hit us too first time. These aren’t Americans working in Chile they are Chileans working there. Just different. Not bad. Decor is decor, can’t argue that. But I think you’re a little hard on the place. Particularly bang for buck.

I stay at this property quite a bit and I agree with your view. Property is very nice, I like the lobby (prior to the refresh all rooms had a similar style), spotty service sometimes and lately they have been significantly hiking certain service prices (i.e. car service hourly rate, transfer to the airport, etc.) and also they seem to be trying to control costs (i.e. hot water being lukewarm at times during the day). In my view it is much better than the W.

I stayed here exactly a month ago, and it matched my expectations.
Ritz-Carlton has, in my opinion, largely fallen as a brand. It's kind of the Ruth's Chris Steakhouse of high end hotel chains. High end, but it's lost its luster and for the most part cant compare with the really high end chains, but it's still "fancy".

So for me, this hotel was what I expected. My room looked EXACTLY like yours. Though I didnt get a club room. I too booked through STARS and got all the amenities you did.
I too thought the renovations they did to the guest rooms were good. I was happy with mine.

As far as the public spaces... it's exactly what I thought. Ritz-Carlton, in its current iteration, was founded in Atlanta Georgia, and for me Ritz-Carlton decor has ALWAYS been associated with 1990s/ early 2000s Atlanta design. The lobby in this hotel for me just SCREAMED Atlanta 1990s. I appreciated the timewarp/ journey to my youth.

I also ate in the restaurant for breakfast and I think I had the same enthusiastic waiter. He was great.

Overall, the price was right and it was in a good location for my needs during my stay in Santiago. I'd definitely stay there again.

OH.. and I stayed at the Ritz Carlton Aruba a few weeks later. If you thought the Santiago location fell short of R-C standards, I invite you to Aruba..

Thanks Ben! That is a good point on the 4-starness of your experience. Your blog (which I love), your rules, I almost wonder maybe 2-3 sentences in your reviews on a cost/value analysis. But up to you if you think that is useful!

Yes, I was chatting with Ben below. Outside of the Reserves, what Ritz Carlton property is particularly exciting? For less than 300 dollars, this seems pretty good!

Thanks. My rate was I think $380, so a little pricier. The hotel was full. But I still liked it and found the whole experience worth it..

Whereas the Aruba R-C was nearly $1k (I was just there one night) and was absolutely not a room that should be more than $300-$400... but on Aruba that's the nicest property so that's what they get. Never again.

I just got back from a stay at the Rosewood Hotel Georgia in Vancouver, and they have the same Dyptique toiletries as the RC Santiago. Very nice!

Totally OT, but if anyone finds themselves in Vancouver, the Rosewood Hotel Georgia is an awesome property.

We are staying in Santiago next May at the Mandarin Oriental. We had been very specifically directed away from the Ritz to the MO. Ben, are you going to have an opportunity to try the MO? Anyone else have thoughts between the two?

These days, Ritz-Carlton is faux luxury.
The older 1990s and early 2000s properties were often country club like (the wood paneling). Some even took design inspiration from Louis XV style, but not as over the top as Trump.
Today, the properties (like your room) look like a Westin or maybe a JW Marriott. The Arlington, Sarasota and Chicago properties come to mind. The only difference is supposedly the service and attention to details. But often even the service is a let down. For example, you didn't get a club lounge check-in, which is something most would expect.
While there are a couple licensed Ritz-Carltons, like Chicago and Montreal (and I think Kuala Lumpur), I would not be surprised if Marriott starts franchising or licensing Ritz-Carlton. I see the brand has now been opened to conversions.

By the way, the chardonnay in the club lounge, the Undurraga Terroir Hunter Chardonnay, is about $20 retail. That's actually better than expected. The Ritz-Carltons in Arlington and Sarasota have been caught serving $5 wine in the club lounge.

Good comparison. The average St. Regis is still generally better than the average Ritz-Carlton. But on the whole, a Ritz-Carlton property, especially domestically in the USA, offers the experience a JW Marriott offered 10 or 15 years ago.

Marriott should hire the Capital Grille folks. They could teach Ritz-Carlton a lesson. There's nothing wrong with shabby chic or old-school country club decor, if it's quality and done well.

This hotel has long been mediocre. Then again, Ritz-Carlton hotels ceased being a top-tier luxury hotel group years ago, particularly with their lackluster service and increasingly bland design. I have also always despised the club lounges, which tend to attract a type of cheap and greedy guest looking to pig out and avoid paying for a meal elsewhere.

Club lounge def not worth $100 here, but the stars rate / hotel just fine for the price you paid. Which is not a typical Ritz price.

Mandarin Oriental is a nicer property in town.

The Mandarin is a bit nicer, but the location is a bit more isolated. You really cant walk many places from there and there is no easy subway access. It's surrounded by very busy roads. There's also a mall with a PF Chang's restaurant that you can walk to, if you're interested.
It's nice but location isnt as great, and most contacts I have in Santiago (all bankers, etc) who live in nice areas recommend the RC over the Mandarin, despite the issues described herein, mostly for the location and the accessibility.

I stayed at the MO a long time ago, when it was a grand Hyatt I believe. It is nice but I prefer the RC location, close to Isidora Goyenechea Avenue (nice restaurants close by, and Costanera Center for shopping a 10' walk away, as well as a bit shorter transfer to the airport). I also like the RC in general better than the MO. Both are well regarded though (the one that I have had I most issues with is the W).

An almost identical review of what I would have written about my recent stay at the RC Kuala Lumpur.

Wait that's called a wonton? What?

I also used to frequently stay at the MO when it was a Grand Hyatt. It was great, then, but as others mention a bit isolated. I agree with Ben’s review of the RC, the hotel is less nice, but the location is better than the MO.

Other than that, Santiago is not offering much in terms of upmarket hotels. The IC is also rather old and not so great. The Sheraton is even worse and also isolated by a motorway.

Midmarket there is a DoubleTree (nice location, o.k.-ish in terms of service, lounge still labeled in the elevator, but never re-opened after pandemic) and a rather nice FourPoints (good location, good service, one of the better FourPoints).

Agree about the location of the MO, there is a large mall and a nice park within a short walk of the hotel but it is basically surrounded by very busy roads and the nearest subway station is a bit of a hike. That said the service is generally excellent (very responsive to service requests in my experience) and the lobby lounge and interior garden are very nice. Mountain views from some rooms are spectacular but that's probably true for other high-rise hotels. Apparently the MO gets a lot of pre/post cruise stays and can get hectic and scattershot when it has a lot of short-term arrivals and departures over a single day or two, but I've haven't experienced that myself.

An intriguing hotel in Santiago is the Singular. It's a Leading Hotel property, and it's very nice. closer to downtown. I'd recommend checking that one out.

Having stayed at this place and Mandarin Oriental, I def prefer Mo. I just remembered the gym was so hot that you feel like you were working out in a sauna! The whole thing just doesn’t make any sense!

"Perfunctory". The word you are looking for to describe the service culture in Chile is perfunctory.

I believe the Ritz-Carlton in KL is one of just three licensed or franchised Ritz-Carlton properties. The others are Chicago and Montreal.

Well, the chardonnay is a $20 bottle of chardonnay retail. So probably $40-$60 restaurant prices. Two people could easily drink two bottles of the wine. That's probably $80-$120.

Why was there not a butler or a club lounge check-in? Labor is super cheap in Chile, at least relatively speaking compared to USA or Europe. As this is a Marriott-managed property (like 99.9% of all other Ritz-Carltons), I can't help but to wonder if they have cut costs (given the CEO's comments) by reducing staffing at properties like a Ritz-Carlton.

At a Ritz-Carlton as a Marriott platinum or higher and on a Stars rate with club lounge access, I would expect:

1) Pre-arrival personalized email from guest relations
2) Personalized welcome letter at check-in
3) Club lounge check-in
4) A welcome amenity

It seems like the only thing they delivered was the welcome amenity.

My family stayed there about a year ago and we had one of our best Ritz experiences at this property. Personally, I find the mix of decor between the lobby and the renovated rooms nice. With the lobby you can experience a "luxury property" similar to those built in the 80s-90s across South America and feel the historical ambiance the architects were going for. Once you get to your room however, you've transitioned back to the 21st century comfort.

Regarding the service, the front desk was fairly transactional when we checked in too. This was the only service that we had that didn't match our normal Ritz experience. Once I reminded them that we had Lounge access someone escorted us up to the Club to finalize our check in. After that all of our service was amazing, we stayed there 2 nights and 3 days. We visited in early May and so it was out of season for families to visit. Everyone from the restaurant to the lounge to the housekeeping staff loved playing and hanging out with our son. From a food perspective anything that my son normally ate that we asked about the lounge staff had it available or sent up from the kitchen. I casually mentioned when getting a drink that I preferred Coke over Pepsi and that evening during turn down there were two Cokes in our room and every lounge attendant asked if I wanted one every time we came to the Lounge. I've never experienced that at another Marriott property or a Ritz (8 or so stayed at globally) regardless of my status or room category booked.

Finally, this is where a little or a lot of pre-property research becomes important, there are a few amenities that this Ritz has which you have to inquire about or they may come up in conversation while staying there. I don't want to put them on OMAAT because it would be easy to get overly abused, but I also want to tease a little because we all enjoy a little thrill of the hunt. Here are some hints: (a) 2 unique property benefits would come up in conversations if you were at this location for a few days naturally [for one of these benefits if you have ever been to the Ritz in Bali / Nusa Dua for a few days you'd know they offer this too]. (b) The last property benefit is so unique that unless you find the 1 (one) and only mention of it online you wouldn't know to ask. I only came across it after many hours of research and it helped to me to select the Ritz over the W in Santiago just for the chance to ask. Happy Hunting!

@ Pucnit -- Wait, don't leave us hanging like this, c'mon!!!

Question, what makes you think the labor is super cheap in Santiago? Chile is one of the most expensive countries in Latin America, the others being Uruguay and Costa Rica.

@Lucky: I stayed here a bit over a month after your stay and the experience was totally the opposite. Service exceeded the expectations (considering its a Ritz Carlton). Our check in experience was great and the all the employees we met remembered my name and my wife's since the moment we step into the property. Our rate was higher but in my opinion worth the price. We booked through Amex and didn't receive an upgrade, our room was similar to the one you got. The servers at the restaurant were very friendly and on point with their suggestions. Our server was also named Jose but that's the most common name in Latin America

I'm also curious about the check in experience since it would have been ideal for you based on you mentioning being an introvert. Maybe they read the blog and keep the talking to a minimum 🙂

Thanks everyone for the feedback.

Ritz-Carlton in Santiago belongs to the real estate investment fund IHH (Inversiones Hoteleras Holding). It is not a property managed directly by Marriott, IHH manages other hotels in Santiago such as Le Meridien, Sheraton and Intercontinental

Really nice thorough review! We are considering using our CSR The Edit $250 credit here so this helps a lot =D