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

For the first hotel stay of my two times to Latin America review trip, I spent a night at the 205-room Ritz-Carlton Santiago, which is the brand’s only property in South America. Santiago has a fair number of chain properties, though not many that I’d consider to be luxury. At least in terms of name recognition, the Ritz-Carlton is probably one of the city’s two most luxurious properties, along with the Mandarin Oriental.

How was my stay at the Ritz-Carlton Santiago? Well, “you get what you pay for” comes to mind, I guess. The property is totally fine, and it’s one of the less expensive Ritz-Carlton properties out there. However, there’s also nothing particularly luxurious about the hotel, it could use a renovation (especially in common spaces), and I found the service to be a mixed bag.

I’m not saying anyone should avoid this property, though I doubt most people will be blown away, so I’d just recommend coming in with reasonable expectations.

Booking the Ritz-Carlton Santiago

For the night I was staying, the Ritz-Carlton Santiago was charging $259. It was a no-brainer to book this through the Marriott STARS program, so that I’d receive complimentary breakfast, plus a $100 property credit. Keep in mind that Marriott Bonvoy Platinum members and above don’t ordinarily receive complimentary breakfast at Ritz-Carlton properties, which is why booking through these kinds of programs is valuable.

But I actually took it a step further — Ritz-Carlton properties are known for having incredible club lounges, so I figured I should spring for the club experience, which cost an extra $110, bringing the rate to $369. I don’t want to say that’s an insignificant amount, but some other Ritz-Carlton properties charge hundreds of extra dollars per night for a club room, so I figured it was worth giving a shot.

That being said, suffice it to say that it’s kind of hard to maximize the club lounge food and drinks, restaurant breakfast, and a $100 credit, all on a one night stay.

I didn’t even consider redeeming Marriott Bonvoy points, given the reasonable cash rate, plus the great value of booking through Marriott STARS on a one night stay.

Ritz-Carlton Santiago location

The Ritz-Carlton is located in Santiago’s Las Condes neighborhood, which is basically an upscale business district, and is quite central. The hotel is next door to the Hyatt Centric, and just a couple of blocks from the W Hotel.

In terms of getting to and from the airport, the Ritz-Carlton is about a 25-minute drive from Santiago Airport (SCL). Fortunately Santiago is one of the few big cities in South America that doesn’t have horrible traffic, in my experience.

Ritz-Carlton Santiago lobby & check-in

Unless you’re really into decor from the early 2000s, the Ritz-Carlton sure doesn’t make a very good first impression. My gosh, the lobby feels outdated. The hotel first opened in 2003, and underwent a renovation in 2018, though I think that refresh was focused on the guest rooms rather than the public spaces.

The lobby space doesn’t feel old enough to be historic, but also doesn’t feel new enough to… well, not feel kind of shabby.

Once inside the lobby, I headed to reception, which was located straight ahead and to the left. I had arrived way ahead of check-in time, so was of course prepared to have to wait. Fortunately a room was ready within about 45 minutes.

I didn’t receive any upgrade on account of my status, beyond just the king club room I had booked (which I didn’t mind, given how early I was able to check-in). I did find the service to be quite strange, though. I’m used to Ritz-Carlton properties having overly scripted service.

In this case, I think the front desk associate and I exchanged maybe a couple dozen total words. Once my room was ready he just handed me the keys without explaining anything about the property. The whole thing was weird.

With keys in hand, I headed to the elevators, located across from reception. The hotel has 15 floors, and I headed up to the 11th floor, where my room was located.

Ritz-Carlton Santiago club room

I was assigned room 1119, a 430 square foot (40 square meter) king room. Upon exiting the elevator and turning left, my room was about halfway down the hallway, and once again on the left.

Unlike the lobby area, the room had clearly been renovated in recent years, and felt fresh. Before entering the main part of the room, the entry hallway had the bathroom to the right and the minibar area to the left.

Then the main part of the room had a comfortable king size bed with a bench at the foot of it.

There was a daybed in the far corner of the room, with a small table that could be moved around.

Then on the opposite side of the room was a desk with a chair, plus a wall-mounted TV.

The room had pretty views of the surrounding area. As mentioned above, this is basically the business district of Santiago, and I think the views reflect that. Sadly my room didn’t have a view of the mountains, which are visible from other parts of the hotel.

Back toward the entrance was the minibar area, which had a complimentary Nespresso machine and tea selection, plus a variety of drinks and snacks for purchase.

The bathroom had a sink, a bathtub, a walk-in shower, and a toilet in a separate room.

I loved the Diptyque amenities, and appreciated that there were also a variety of bathroom amenities in the room, so that you didn’t have to call down to request them.

As is common for hotels that undergo a renovation on a budget, the bathroom generally still shows the property’s age, and this was no exception, as you could definitely tell that the bathroom was a couple of decades old, aside from some new wallpaper.

All-in-all, I thought the room was quite nice. Now, I’m not sure it necessarily felt any more luxurious than a new Westin or Sheraton Grand, but given the price point, that wasn’t an issue.

A few hours after checking in, I was brought a welcome amenity consisting of some sweet treats. However, upon reviewing the card, I realized that it wasn’t actually intended for me, as it was addressed to someone else.

Then later in the day I was brought a second welcome amenity, consisting of a bottle of wine, which was addressed to me.

Ritz-Carlton Santiago spa, pool, and gym

The Ritz-Carlton Santiago’s wellness area is located on the 15th floor, and it’s quite a large complex. The architecture is cool, plus I like how much natural light the space gets. There’s both a pool and hot tub, and plenty of seating surrounding the pool.

There’s even a little bar area of sorts, plus an outdoor deck.

The gym is located up a level of stairs from the pool, and it’s quite small and basic. It has a few treadmills, a couple of exercise bikes, and a couple of ellipticals, plus strength training equipment.

The catch is that it gets outrageously hot up here, as this is basically like a greenhouse. Even when it’s cold outside, the sun makes this place swelteringly hot. I was sweating before I even started my workout.

I do have to give the hotel credit for having little mini-protein bars that guests could help themselves to, as it’s something I wish we’d see more hotels offer.

The Ritz-Carlton Santiago also has a spa in this area, but it’s really kind of an afterthought in terms of design. There are three treatment rooms, a sauna, and a steam room, but definitely manage your expectations.

For example, below is the relaxation area in the spa. I don’t think anyone would guess the below picture would be at a Ritz-Carlton.

Ritz-Carlton Santiago club lounge

The Ritz-Carlton Santiago club lounge is located on the 10th floor. Ritz-Carlton club lounges are known for generally having five food presentations per day. This location only had four, as there was no afternoon tea. The lounge is open from 7AM until 10PM, with the following presentations:

• Breakfast is available from 7AM until 10:30AM
• A light lunch is available from 12PM until 2PM
• A light dinner is available from 5PM until 7PM
• Dessert is available from 7PM until 9PM

The club lounge is nicely appointed, and is on the small side. It consists of two(ish) rooms, with the first room mainly having dining tables, and the second room mainly having couches and other seats designed for lounging around.

The first thing I noticed about the club lounge is that the attendant working the lounge simply wasn’t friendly. I’ve usually found Ritz-Carlton club lounge attendants to be overly friendly and almost annoyingly chatty (at least as an introvert), and to constantly check on guests. I spent quite a bit of time in the lounge (since I spent much of the day working from there), and she barely ever acknowledged me, let alone asked how my experience was, if there was anything I needed, etc.

Anyway, let’s take a look at some of the food and drink offerings. Throughout the day there were soft drinks, a coffee machine, and several freshly baked treats.

The lunch selection included small sandwiches, salad, fruit skewers, pita and dip, veggies, nuts, and cupcakes. Then there was a single hot option, which was soup.

Around dinner, the cold selection was roughly comparable, with the major difference being a couple of additional hot options.

Wine was available starting at lunch and until the lounge closed, and liquor was also available in the evening. It was a pretty basic selection, and there was no offer for the attendant to prepare a cocktail (as I’ve been offered at some other Ritz-Carlton locations).

Lastly, there was a dessert selection, with a variety of options, plus some liqueurs.

Ritz-Carlton Estró Santiago Restaurant

Estró Santiago is the Ritz-Carlton’s all-day dining restaurant. It’s where breakfast is served in the mornings, and then it’s also open for lunch and dinner, with a focus on dishes from Chile. The indoor space of the restaurant doesn’t feel terribly high-end to me, though I do like the outdoor space.

Breakfast was served at the restaurant from 6:30AM until 10:30AM (it’s served until 11AM on weekends), and consisted primarily of a buffet.

The breakfast buffet was pretty good, but also forgettable — a hotel breakfast in Latin America is never going to be to the level of what you’ll find in the Middle East or Southeast Asia. The buffet had everything from smoothies and juice, to yogurt, to cereal and granola, to fresh fruit, to cold cuts and cheese, to a variety of pastries, to several hot dishes.

On top of that, you can order drinks and select dishes from the servers, including things like custom eggs, waffles, pancakes, etc. I had a cappuccino to drink, which was excellent.

While I otherwise found service at the property to not be great, I have to give huge credit to Jose, who took care of me at breakfast. He was a super nice guy, much more enthusiastic than anyone else I interacted with at the hotel.

I was actually (coincidentally) visiting over Chile’s Independence Day, so he insisted on making me a plate of typical Chilean dishes that he thought I should try. Guac, carbs, and other sugary things? Twist my arm! 😉

Since I had a property credit to spend, I ended up coming back to the restaurant for lunch, and it was a lovely experience, as I was once again served by Jose. You can find the lunch menu below (one USD converts to roughly 1,000 CLP).

At the start of the meal, I was brought a salmon wonton and a cheesy brioche. Yum.

For my main course, I ordered the Pacific tuna tataki with a spiced crust, quinoa, and creamy avocado and coconut milk. Yum.

Per Jose’s recommendation, for dessert I ordered the cream flan with dulce de leche, vanilla whipped ganache, pistachio and hazelnut biscuit, and orange ginger ice cream. Yum again.

Bottom line

I’m conflicted about the Ritz-Carlton Santiago. On the plus side, the hotel has fair pricing, and I’d say it represented a good value for my stay. That being said, this property isn’t up to the usual Ritz-Carlton standard, with inconsistent and (partly) outdated decor, and not great service (with the exception of the restaurant). This is also one of the weaker Ritz-Carlton club lounges I’ve experienced.

So I don’t want to say that I’d recommend avoiding this hotel, because I think there could be merit to staying here. Just don’t come in expecting that this will be some amazing luxury property. I don’t think anyone would be surprised if this were instead branded as a JW Marriott or Westin. Then again, then they’d actually have to honor Bonvoy elite benefits. 😉

What’s your take on the Ritz-Carlton Santiago?