Small Beach Town Near Santiago, Chile

Nuts!

Just when I thought I had the perfect trip lined up, I discover a
convention of Doctors is coming to Santiago on the day of my arrival
(November 4, 2003). All hotels are full--or so they say.

This is not good news for an old guy and his wife flying down from
DFW.

So I have a question: Can you recommend a small beach town within
easy driving distance (say an hour or so) of the Santiago airport? I
figure that after a red-eye flight, a small hotel overlooking the
Pacific might be a great tonic.

Ideas?

Thanks,

Bob Payne, Incline Villge, Nevada, USA

Valparaiso is the nearest thing from the airport, but is anything but small.
There is nothing else small, within that driving time.

Cheers.

Al C.
"Bob Payne" <bigpayne@nvbell.net> wrote in message
news:bc360b7b.0309261155.a9b4119@co m...
> Nuts!
>
> Just when I thought I had the perfect trip lined up, I discover a
> convention of Doctors is coming to Santiago on the day of my arrival
> (November 4, 2003). All hotels are full--or so they say.
>
> This is not good news for an old guy and his wife flying down from
> DFW.
>
> So I have a question: Can you recommend a small beach town within
> easy driving distance (say an hour or so) of the Santiago airport? I
> figure that after a red-eye flight, a small hotel overlooking the
> Pacific might be a great tonic.
>
> Ideas?
>
> Thanks,
>
> Bob Payne, Incline Villge, Nevada, USA

I don't know if either of these would be described as a "small beach town,"
but Viña del Mar and Valparaíso are both about an hour and a half out of
Santiago, on the Pacific. I've only seen pictures of Valparaíso, but from
what I read it's a popular place for tourists (I think that the poet Pablo
Neruda lived there for a time). I've been to Viña del Mar, which struck me
as a pretty elegant looking place; my guess would be that Miami might be
somewhat similar, but maybe not as classy.

"Bob Payne" <bigpayne@nvbell.net> wrote in message
news:bc360b7b.0309261155.a9b4119@co m...
> Nuts!
>
> Just when I thought I had the perfect trip lined up, I discover a
> convention of Doctors is coming to Santiago on the day of my arrival
> (November 4, 2003). All hotels are full--or so they say.
>
> This is not good news for an old guy and his wife flying down from
> DFW.
>
> So I have a question: Can you recommend a small beach town within
> easy driving distance (say an hour or so) of the Santiago airport? I
> figure that after a red-eye flight, a small hotel overlooking the
> Pacific might be a great tonic.
>
> Ideas?
>
> Thanks,
>
> Bob Payne, Incline Villge, Nevada, USA