StarwoodGuy: Southern South America With Starwood Hotels Days 15

Well second time was the charm. Up again at 4:00 am I jumped in the car and made my way to the airport in Santiago, this time printing my boarding pass at a kiosk and getting through the immigration and security line quickly since everyone else was still stuck in the check in lines which seemed to move very slowly From there Priority Pass offers 4 lounges (though upstairs is the beautiful LAN/TAM new lounge we cannot use).

The first is open 24 hours at the far end of the International Gates by Gate 20, the Salon VIP. It has a few seating areas with a coffee and table set up as well near one of the food areas. There were plenty of people sleeping since it was open 24 hours. The food offerings were plastic wrapped and did not look the best so I just had some Guava Juice (nice though). The Second Lounge was very similar but on the lower level of the International Terminal, simply titled The Lounge. The third was a little father down near gate 17 called the Voyage Lounge, with Delta right across. All of these Priority Pass Lounges are very similar, with what appeared to be the same basic catered food in plastic wrap, with both orange juice and guava machines, coffee and tea, and alcohol served only in the afternoon. There was an Avianca Lounge as well right next to Gate 12 so I popped in there as well. I did not realize I had access to this both with Priority Pass and with my Business ticket on Avianca. It was also on the lower floor, but of the 4 accessible by Priority Pass this lounge was the best, with the red and white Avianca colors displayed throughout, a more elaborate food selection with sandwiches that good be toasted, and it was the only one with alcoholic beverages at this hour. The Lounge attendant came to get me when boarding was almost complete. The Avianca A321 was a dated plane but the quick breakfast service, fruit, roll and omelette was good. A movie played from the overhead monitors not in the seat backs so options were limited.

Salon VIP Santiago

Salon VIP Santiago - Locked, but it was 5:30 am!

Salon VIP Santiago

The Lounge

Voyage Lounge

Avianca Lounge

Upon landing in Lima I made it quickly through the APEC immigration and customs lines and out to the car the Sheraton Lima had waiting for me. It was rush hour so it took us around forty minutes to reach the hotel, but when we did I was given a warm welcome, a voucher for a drink in the lobby as well and a specialty tea or coffee in the lobby, information on the Club Lounge on the 18th floor and the keys to my upgraded suite on the 14th floor. Unfortunately I did have to pay for the car that had gone to pick me up the day before as well when I had not made it on the Avianca flight. When I got into the room I found a guest bath, a large sitting area with television and table, and then in the bedroom the bed, large closet area, jetted tub, separate shower, and a glassed off toilet and bidet area. The welcome amenity was amazing. Smoked salmon and three types of caviar with crackers, various fruits, and cheese and more crackers. As well a selection of chocolates had been put out. All very impressive and much appreciated.

I changed and managed to get my meetings out of the way, both taking place at the hotel since I had to reschedule them after the Avianca/Aeroplan debacle from the day before. Once that was done I started to explore. The Sheraton is located in the heart of the old town, with the main parks, plazas, and museums all within walking distance. Unfortunately the majority of the hotels, shopping and nightlife has moved away from this central location and is now located in Miraflores, also much closer to the International district with the embassies and closer to the beach. I decided to walk over, it was quite a distance, and the Sheraton does offer a free shuttle to get you to Miraflores, but it was interesting to see how buildings went from older and more basic to much more elaborate, gated style communities as I passed through the International area on one of the large tree-lined avenues with bike and walking paths in the middle. I passed by the Westin tower in one of the more business focused areas before arriving at the busy Miraflores neighborhood with outdoor cafes, plenty of shops, and crowds of people. As there had been in Cusco, ample hostels could be found as well along with young backpackers. I strolled around a little, grabbed an iced coffee from Starbucks, and then made my way down to the water. I did not realize that I would actually be on a large cliff, with the beach on another road far below. I had already been walking for almost three hours and I had been up since 2:00 am in Lima time, so I decided to follow the water walkway back before cutting in to the wealthy residential neighborhoods. What I found interesting was that while Cusco had plenty of stray dogs, Lima had plenty of stray cats! The one thing that drove me crazy was the honking. It had been bad in Cusco but Lima took it to a completely different level. Non-stop honking, often for no reason. I was hoping it would not carry on all through the night.

Finally back at the hotel I showered and made my way up to check out the pool deck (my plan for the next day) and then went to the Club Lounge. The Lounge offers beautiful views in the same direction as my room, sadly not like the pool over the historic buildings around the hotel, but we were facing directly to the water and sunset. After that I stopped in the lobby quickly to look around a little more and then headed to bed.