If you do not have any pre-arranged transportation at the airport, here are a few options and tips that may save you some time and money. If you have, or are about to make, a reservation we will be more than happy to arrange transportation from the airport to the hostel with TransVip, an airport shuttle. The cost for this service is $4.500 CLP or US$10 (this changes with the value of the Peso against the Dollar). For additional information airport transportation info check out the. SCL transportation page. Taxis - PLEASE READ THIS! Because of the ongoing problems with taxis in the airport we strongly advise against the use of them. Too often we find guests paying extreme amounts as taxis take advantage of incoming tourists. In a recent case a couple of guests were charged 60.000CLP (about US$120) to get to the hostel. If you do decide to go with a taxi, please do not pay more than 15.000CLP (total for the car, not per person). Do not get the services of anyone standing with a taxi sign even if they claim to be 'official'. Only use a taxi from one of the desks in the airport. Never go out to the parking lot for a taxi. Only use the taxis that are parked in front directly out of the doors of the terminal, were you will also see the cheaper and more reliable transfer vans. If you have any problems with a taxi, or anyone else for that matter, go directly to the Carabineros (Chilean Police). Unlike most other South American countries, the Chilean Carabineros are completely trustworthy and honest. They do not take bribes and will be happy to help you if you are in trouble. Airport Shuttle There are a couple of good airport shuttles that, if you are traveling alone, can be a good option if you do not want to pay the higher cost of the taxis. Both and Turbus have shuttles that are available in front of the arrivals area, just outside the doors. The charge for TransVip is 4.500 pesos to the hostel. The only downside to the shuttles of course is that you may have to wait for other people to be dropped off before you are brought to your location. Airport Buses There are two airport buses, one run by Turbus and the other by Centropuerto, that will take you from the airport to one of several Metro stations but only as far as downtown Santiago. This is the cheapest option with fares running only about 1.200 pesos. Below is a list of destinations that are served by each company. Both companies will bring you to Metro station Los Heroes, which is about a 20 minute walk to the hostel. The corner of streets Moneda San Martin. Metro Station Los Heroes (20 min walk to the hostel). Metro Station Universidad de Santiago. Metro Station Las Rejas. Metro Station Pajaritos. Metro Station Estacion Central. Santiago has 3 main bus terminals (actually 4 but the last doesn't do much). Terminal San Borja (metro station Estacion Central), located on the side of Estacion Central (Santiago's train station) and mostly services routes going to the north. Terminal Alameda (metro station Universidad de Santiago) is home to just 2 companies, Turbus (the largest and more expensive) and Pulman. They both also have offices in the other terminals as well. Terminal Sur (metro station Universidad de Santiago), just a block over from Terminal Alameda, serves mostly southern routes and has more affordable options than Alameda. To get to the hostel from any of these bus terminals, you can take the metro (subway) which is located just outside each of them. Once inside, the trains go in two directions, labeled San Pablo and Escuela Militar. These are the last stations on both ends of the line. Make sure that you go in the direction of Escuela Militar. You will only need to take the to Metro Republica. Walking out of the station, walk West (away from the mountains) about one block. This will bring you to Av. Republica. Walk down Av. Republica 5 blocks and turn right onto Toesca. The hostal is about half-way down the block on the right side of the street. Optionally, you can get a taxi but be careful. There are some taxi's, usually located outside of the terminal, that wait for tourists and have a listed rate that's double the normal rate. You should not have to pay more than 2.500CLP to get to the hostel by taxi. If you think you got charged too much, try to get a staff member from the hostel before to you pay.

Why should you choose stay at. Hostal de Sammy when there are so many other hostals in Santiago to choose from. For this we have compiled a list of some great reasons to convince you to go with Sammy. We think you'll agree. Regardless of whether you choose to stay in a private room or a dorm room, Sammy thinks you should be comfortable either way. That's why all the beds in the house are at least 1 1/2 plaza in size (twin). There are no kiddie beds at Sammy's. A good hostal experience isn't complete unless there's lots of space to hang out and mingle with your fellow residents and friends. That's why Sammy has no less than 5 common spaces including the dining room, living room, a game room with a pool table, and a computer room as well as a fantastic patio in back of the house. It has been my experience that the chilean people, as much as they like food, don't really do the breakfast thing very well. So when we say free breakfast we're not just talking about about toast and coffee. But if coffee and toast is all you require to start the day, you find that as well as cereals, yogurt, fresh fruits, juice, tea, and milk. Almost every hostal worth its weight has internet. But what good is it if there's only one computer and 50+ people to share it with? And to make matters worse, the so-called free internet is really only free for 20 minutes a day!?! Sammy has 4 always on computers to share between it's guests and if you travel with your wireless capable portable, Wi-Fi is also available. Sammy has an in-house library of over available to it's guests and playable the DVD player in the living room complete with a 6.1 channel home theater setup. We also have an Xbox and a Playstation 2, connected to a separate TV (as to not detract from those who may want to use the TV to, well, just watch TV) and over 100 games between them. Did we forget to mention that we also have a pool table?

Hostal de Sammy is a large three story house that sets itself apart from other buildings around it. Entering on the first floor, you are greeted by a large checker-board black and white marble entry. The main floor of the house is comprised entirely of common spaces while the second and third floors of the house are where the are loacated. The house has 5 shared bathrooms and 6 showers in all. The common rooms include: We took out a wall and combined two rooms to make this extra large room complete with a pool table, foosball, PS2 with it's own gaming couch, and a high-powered audio system for your musical pleasure. The Dining Room Adjacent to the game room sits the Dining Room with several attractive tile-topped tables and loads of natural light. In the morning (or whenever you happen to wake up), the free breakfast is available here. The living room has all you need for your viewing entertainment pleasure with satellite TV, DVD player with an extensive library of. and 6.1 Dolby Digital home-theater system. Hostal de Sammy has at least four always-on computers connected to a 4 Mb ADSL connection complete with popular office and photo editing software as well as free printing. The Kitchen With two stoves, two microwaves, and plenty of refrigerator space the kitchen has everything you need to cook your meals. The Patio The patio in back of the house, with several tables, has two large trees which provide lots natural shading to help aid you in the blazing hot Santiago Summers and comes ready with a brick barbeque ready whenever you need it.

Getting around Santiago can be very easy, given you have the right information that is. There are several good choices for transportation including the. the buses, taxis and colectivos. Of these options though, the Metro is by far the best choice. If you are arriving in the Santiago International Airport without any pre-arranged transportation, please read my helpful. El Metro - Open from 6:30am-10:30pm M-Sat / Sun 8:30am-10:30pm. With an extensive subway system, the Santiago Metro is the easiest and most cost efficient way to move around the city. It's one limitation however is it's inability to get to obscure places and this is where you will need to opt for a bus or taxi. To the right is a map of the Metro. For a larger view of the map, on the image. My only real complaint about the Metro is it is the only place that I have ever experienced being robbed in Santiago. Both times though were simply due to my ignorance so taking a few precautions will most likely prevent this from happening. When entering or exiting a train, be very aware of your belongs. If you are being bumped into by other people, it is very easy for someone to slip their hand into your pocket without you noticing. This is even more of a problem with the Trans Santiago system in place as the Metro is more crowded than ever before. I now always keep my valuables in my front pockets with my hands near them at all times. Also, if you have a small backpack it is a good idea to keep it in front of you. At one point, someone had unzipped my backpack and removed my passport while I was not paying attention so please be careful! Trans Santiago and Las Micros. Until recently there were two type of busses in Santiago, the newer Trans Santiago (green and white) and the older Micros (yellow and white). The Trans Santiago buses are a new system that went into effect only recently and the older Micros have been phased out. In my opinion (as a foreigner), this is a good thing since the Micros, although they all looked the same, were owned and run by many different people. At times this caused havoc, and was often quite dangerous, on the streets as the many Micros competed for passengers. With Trans Santiago now in place, it's much more like a normal bus system in any other city. The problem at the moment though, is unlike the older Micros, there are now not enough buses. This has put the transit system in a state of dissaray. This has caused more people to take the Metro which has caused it to be extremely crowded during rush hours. To make matters more complicated (especially for the traveler) you can no longer pay with money on the busses. They will only accept their bip card, a credit card sized card that you can load credit on and then swipe as you get on the bus. If you don't have one, you can't ride! All buses have a sign in the front window that indicates the major streets that they travel. Although to a native Chilean this is fine and dandy, to a Santiago newbie this is usually not of much help. The problem has taken. There are certainly no shortage of the small yellow and black taxis in Santiago and at times they may be your only way to get around if you happen to be traveling very late at night. In some cases it is more cost efficient to take a taxi than a bus if you are with in a group of three or more people and traveling a short distance. By most people's standards, the taxis are very reasonably priced however I have seen a few taxis that have increased rates for those that are unaware. The standard taxis should only charge you 200 pesos to get in the car and about 80 pesos for every segment, measured in a fixed number of meters regardless of how many people are in the car. Anything significantly high than this should be avoided. Also, do not get into a taxi unless it has a working meter. My only real complaint with taxis is that there have been times that while taking them at night where they have taken creative routes in the effort to earn a higher fare. For the most part though I have found them to be very helpful. Colectivos The colectivos are a cross between a taxi and a bus. Always small black cars, they have a fixed route just as a bus does however given the fact that they can only hold a limited number of passengers, in some cases they are faster than a bus but cheaper than a taxi.

 Luggage storage
 Central situation
 Credit cards accepted
 Facsimile services
 Games room
 Access to internet
 Kitchen
 Laundry services/washing machine
 Mixed dorms
 Around-the-clock recetpion
 Parking lot
 Private park, garden, courtyard
 Quiet surroundings
 Tea and coffee making facilities
 Phone at reception