TDY Gouge - Chile

Santiago, Chile - Hotel Tarapaca is a great crew dog hotel. Decent, clean, next to pubs and restaurants. Not far from center of restaurant area. Rooms nice and clean. Security good. Simple, not as ostentatious as the Radisson nor as expensive. Continental breakfast in the AM included. ~Sueces Street is a great place and Hotel Neruda is a 2 block walk. Nice hotel with access to a local gym in the building with a great free breakfast. Don't try to bring any guests thru the front after hours... the manager won't allow it. Take them thru the parking garage and up the elevator. The New Yorker Sushi Restaurant is great. $20 per person for more sushi than you can handle and more wine than you can drink. Happy hour in Sueces is from 6p -1230. Hotel Inter-continental was a great hotel. We did an exercise in Santiago in Aug 03. AMC station manager in Santiago, Mr. Machuca, did an excellent job taking care of us. We operated out of Los Cerrillos AB, but it looks like this base is slated to close. The Inter-continental hotel was nice, although the rooms in the old tower are small (the new tower, facing the embassy, has much nicer rooms, ask for these if possible). The complimentary breakfast buffet is good. The hotel also has a good business center with internet access and an indoor heated pool and exercise facilities. The best thing about the hotel is its location, within 50 yds of the US embassy, easy walking distance to many excellent restaurants, and a short cab ride (about $5 US) to Avenida Suecia, the bar district. The hotel also has good security and a very friendly staff. An excellent restaurant near the hotel (walking distance) was "Happenings," awesome steaks and good wine, just ask the staff how to get there.