Date of Last Visit: October 21, 2010. And then again on October 22, 2010

The Victim(s): Me the first time. My colleague Clark the second time.

The Damage: About $28 the first time. $40 the second time.

The Background: Have you ever been a place once with the expectation that you would never return? So it was when I visited Chile over New Year’s 2002/2003 when my friend Amy and I were fortunate enough to find some very cheap flights on American Airlines. That would be my one trip to Chile. Maybe I’d return in my 60s to see the penguins, but otherwise…Chile was checked off my list.

But here I was, eight years later. Back in Chile. And just a few days after the 33 miners were saved. It was a fun time to be in the country.

After a hectic first few work days in Viña del Mar (more about Viña in a later post), I headed back to Santiago for some more work and my flight back to Chicago. I had a night to myself and did a quick Google of places that I could easily walk to from my hotel. Cafe Liguria was one of my options.

Liguria…Liguria…why did I know this Cafe Liguria? Why was it so familiar? Ah…It was because my fiends Jonathan and Tatiana, who both grew up in Santiago, had enthusiastically recommended we check it out back in 2002. And we did. And I loved it so much, the restaurant gave me two paper tablecloths to commemorate my visit. I later used these to decorate my old Chicago apartment.

I read too many Richard Scarry books as a child. I like having things to look at in restaurants. Cafe Liguria is chock-a-block with wine bottles and retro signs and mismatched chandeliers.

The stairs are gorgeous wrought iron. The floors are black and white check. And the chairs and booths are red leather. I love this sort of style.

One of the many chandeliers. You can see another proper chandelier behind it in the background.

My very generous starter of razor clams, smothered in cheese. Yes, the Chileans are very fond of cheese and seafood. The razor clams were fresh. The cheese was fine. It was not the disaster I expected it to be. (I didn’t realize I was ordering clams with cheese when I said yes to the server’s suggestion. And yes, these are shorter razor clams that I am used to, but my server swore that’s what they were.)

My main–a huge salad of octopus and avocado. I could barely finish this. But I made sure to polish off all of the tender and tangy polpo. I really need to figure out how to make octopus myself.

The Verdict: Is the food at Liguria super-gourmet? No. Is it a really friendly place with charming service, good for groups where you’re sure to have a nice time in a relaxed atmosphere? Yes. Should I return to Chile a 3rd time, I’ll be sure to make another visit. It will probably be time for a new tablecloth…

P.S. Don’t forget! I’m giving away a $75 voucher to Cookware.com! Read more and it could be yours!

The post Cafe Liguria, Santiago Chile first appeared on Passport Delicious | Solo Travel Blog | Solo Female Travel.

I’ve been in and out of three different hotels this month. And it’s really got me thinking about my ideal hotel must-have list.

Because…you start to experience the features of one particular hotel, and you think, “Now really…why didn’t anyone think of this sooner?” For example, at the Crowne Plaza City Centre in Tel Aviv, there was an electric outlet IN THE SAFE. I never realized I needed an electric outlet in my in-room safe until I found myself with a dead laptop and a day’s worth of meetings. No problem. I just locked the laptop in the safe, all plugged in, and when I came back to the hotel, it was all charged up. (Thereby freeing me to work from the bar downstairs, with a glass of Israeli white.) I repeated this in-safe charging experience with my Canon G11. And my Canon 350D. And my iPhone. And my iPad. It was awesome.

Another example: At Tel Aviv’s Crowne Plaza City Centre, the hotel was right across the street from a grocery store. A big one. This was fantastic because I was able to buy a box of granola bars and a bunch of bananas and–voila–no disgustingly expensive hotel breakfast to worry about.

Ah, and did I mention that this hotel had a full Holmes Place gym on the 10th floor? No dinky hotel gym here. This was the real deal. And IT WAS FREE.

The only downside to the Crowne Plaza Tel Aviv? Internet was expensive. EXCEPT if you listened to Bernie at the front desk and learned that there was an unsecured wireless hotspot in the hotel bar, but only if you sat close by the windows. Unfortunately, the signal strength was such that it took 36 hours to download The Life of Brian. But it was fine for e-mail.

In Chile, I stayed three nights at the Sheraton Vina del Mar. As you can see, the hotel rooms are a bit old-school. Clean, but old school. (That being said, the bathroom shower suffered from poor tile work. And mildew.) I liked it here because the hotel gym was free and the spa was open until 10:30 pm. Unfortunately for me, they couldn’t fit me in. I also liked it here because they provided slippers. I am a sucker for hotel slippers.

And of course, I liked it here because after a very long day of work, I could just hang out in my hotel room and check out the view. Pretty fantastic, huh?

The last place I laid my head this month was the Radisson in Santiago. I got an awesome rate of $135 per night, and given that it was the #6 hotel on Trip Advisor, I thought I would give it a whirl. Here’s why I liked it:
1. Seamless free wifi everywhere. Honestly, I was always connected. Some hotels say free wifi, but the moon needs to be full on the 3rd Thursday of the month for the stars to actually align and the wifi connection to be clear. Not so here at the Radisson. Seriously…totally free wifi, totally everywhere. The gym, the breakfast room, the elevator. Someone at the hotel knows what they’re doing.
2. A very good gym with fantastic views out over Santiago and the mountains.
3. Free breakfast. With tortilla. I am a sucker for breakfast tortilla. Ah, and queso fresco.
4. Some of the nicest hotel staff I’ve ever encountered. And you know I stay in a lot of hotels. I checked in around 9:30 am on Thursday and my room wasn’t ready. They told me to head to the breakfast room and help myself. (I have an oil painting of that happening in America, the land of supposedly good service.) I questioned my bill at the end of my stay and they immediately gave me the hotel manager’s card and told me that if I got back to the US and had any questions or problems, I should contact the hotel manager immediately. And most importantly…they remembered my name. This has not happened to me at a hotel since I stayed at the Four Seasons in San Francisco a few years ago. I love it when hotel staff remember my name. (Although it weirds me out when they call me Mrs. N because I start looking around for my mother.)
5. THEY SENT ME A PERSONAL E-MAIL AFTER MY STAY. Thanking me for my feedback. (I filled out their standard hotel survey online.) No form letter here. This was the real deal.

So–I’m in the midst of compiling my list of hotel must-haves. Omnipresent wifi, a good gym, FREE SLIPPERS, free breakfast, a safe that fits a laptop…

What else? What are your hotel must-haves? (Or well, the hotel things that you think are super cool.)

The post Where I’ve Been Sleeping first appeared on Passport Delicious | Solo Travel Blog | Solo Female Travel.