Andrew Cooke | Contents | Latest | RSS | Previous | Next

C[omp]ute

Welcome to my blog, which was once a mailing list of the same name and is still generated by mail. Please reply via the "comment" links.

Always interested in offers/projects/new ideas. Eclectic experience in fields like: numerical computing; Python web; Java enterprise; functional languages; GPGPU; SQL databases; etc. Based in Santiago, Chile; telecommute worldwide. CV; email.

Personal Projects

Choochoo Training Diary

Last 100 entries

Surprise Paradox; [Books] Good Author List; [Computing] Efficient queries with grouping in Postgres; [Computing] Automatic Wake (Linux); [Computing] AWS CDK Aspects in Go; [Bike] Adidas Gravel Shoes; [Computing, Horror] Biological Chips; [Books] Weird Lit Recs; [Covid] Extended SIR Models; [Art] York-based Printmaker; [Physics] Quantum Transitions are not Instantaneous; [Computing] AI and Drum Machines; [Computing] Probabilities, Stopping Times, Martingales; bpftrace Intro Article; [Computing] Starlab Systems - Linux Laptops; [Computing] Extended Berkeley Packet Filter; [Green] Mainspring Linear Generator; Better Approach; Rummikub Solver; Chilean Poetry; Felicitations - Empowerment Grant; [Bike] Fixing Spyre Brakes (That Need Constant Adjustment); [Computing, Music] Raspberry Pi Media (Audio) Streamer; [Computing] Amazing Hack To Embed DSL In Python; [Bike] Ruta Del Condor (El Alfalfal); [Bike] Estimating Power On Climbs; [Computing] Applying Azure B2C Authentication To Function Apps; [Bike] Gearing On The Back Of An Envelope; [Computing] Okular and Postscript in OpenSuse; There's a fix!; [Computing] Fail2Ban on OpenSuse Leap 15.3 (NFTables); [Cycling, Computing] Power Calculation and Brakes; [Hardware, Computing] Amazing Pockit Computer; Bullying; How I Am - 3 Years Post Accident, 8+ Years With MS; [USA Politics] In America's Uncivil War Republicans Are The Aggressors; [Programming] Selenium and Python; Better Walking Data; [Bike] How Fast Before Walking More Efficient Than Cycling?; [COVID] Coronavirus And Cycling; [Programming] Docker on OpenSuse; Cadence v Speed; [Bike] Gearing For Real Cyclists; [Programming] React plotting - visx; [Programming] React Leaflet; AliExpress Independent Sellers; Applebaum - Twilight of Democracy; [Politics] Back + US Elections; [Programming,Exercise] Simple Timer Script; [News] 2019: The year revolt went global; [Politics] The world's most-surveilled cities; [Bike] Hope Freehub; [Restaurant] Mama Chau's (Chinese, Providencia); [Politics] Brexit Podcast; [Diary] Pneumonia; [Politics] Britain's Reichstag Fire moment; install cairo; [Programming] GCC Sanitizer Flags; [GPU, Programming] Per-Thread Program Counters; My Bike Accident - Looking Back One Year; [Python] Geographic heights are incredibly easy!; [Cooking] Cookie Recipe; Efficient, Simple, Directed Maximisation of Noisy Function; And for argparse; Bash Completion in Python; [Computing] Configuring Github Jekyll Locally; [Maths, Link] The Napkin Project; You can Masquerade in Firewalld; [Bike] Servicing Budget (Spring) Forks; [Crypto] CIA Internet Comms Failure; [Python] Cute Rate Limiting API; [Causality] Judea Pearl Lecture; [Security, Computing] Chinese Hardware Hack Of Supermicro Boards; SQLAlchemy Joined Table Inheritance and Delete Cascade; [Translation] The Club; [Computing] Super Potato Bruh; [Computing] Extending Jupyter; Further HRM Details; [Computing, Bike] Activities in ch2; [Books, Link] Modern Japanese Lit; What ended up there; [Link, Book] Logic Book; Update - Garmin Express / Connect; Garmin Forerunner 35 v 230; [Link, Politics, Internet] Government Trolls; [Link, Politics] Why identity politics benefits the right more than the left; SSH Forwarding; A Specification For Repeating Events; A Fight for the Soul of Science; [Science, Book, Link] Lost In Math; OpenSuse Leap 15 Network Fixes; Update; [Book] Galileo's Middle Finger; [Bike] Chinese Carbon Rims; [Bike] Servicing Shimano XT Front Hub HB-M8010; [Bike] Aliexpress Cycling Tops; [Computing] Change to ssh handling of multiple identities?; [Bike] Endura Hummvee Lite II; [Computing] Marble Based Logic; [Link, Politics] Sanity Check For Nuclear Launch; [Link, Science] Entropy and Life

© 2006-2017 Andrew Cooke (site) / post authors (content).

Mid-Price Hotels in Providencia

From: andrew cooke <andrew@...>

Date: Sun, 16 Oct 2011 16:56:35 -0300

I've just been checking out hotel prices for my parents.  Here in Chile
foreign visitors typically pay a price in US dollars that doesn't include tax
(it's pretty much the local price without tax, in a round dollar amount).

I am not covering every hotel - and not apart-hotels at all.  This is just
what I could think of nearby, and visited to have a look at.

At the top end, Hotel Neruda http://www.hotelneruda.cl/ and Hotel Providencia
http://www.panamericanahoteles.cl/providencia.html charge $200 for a night
(double room for two people).  Coming down slightly, Torremayor
http://www.hoteltorremayor.cl is $160.

Looking for somewhere a bit more reasonable, I found Hotel Alcala del Rio
(warning - noisy site) http://www.hotelalcala.cl/ which was $120, but gave me
a price of $95 (I didn't ask anywhere for lower prices, they were just
offered).  This seemed like a average city hotel (they were fully booked so I
couldn't see a room).

Hotel Orly http://www.orlyhotel.com/ is in a very good position on Pedro de
Valdivia N and was $110 a night.  I didn't check a room, but for the location
(20 seconds away from some good restaurants) that seems like good value.

I then started to consider hotels further away from the main road (Providencia
/ 11 de Septiembre).  Very close to where I live is Hotel Nogales
http://www.hotelnogales.cl/ which was clean and modern.  The receptionist told
me the price was $100, but also said that I could get a better price if I
returned during the week (actually, she gave me the email of the person who
handles bookings, but I don't want to share that here).  If it comes down to
$85-90 and the rooms are as clean as the reception area then this seems like
it would be good value - it's only 10min walk from the main area, but in a
much quieter neighbourhood (and particularly good for visiting me!).

Moving further South, Hotel Lyon http://www.hotellyon.cl/ was a refreshing
change - very much a family-run hotel / guesthouse with a proud German
tradition.  Whether you like this or not is going to depend on taste - the
rooms were very old-fashioned, but clean.  I think it would be a nice place to
stay, but don't expect much from the area where you might sit outside (the
photos on the site are qute flattering).  Price per night is $85 and it's 20
min walk north to the main road (there's not much nearby, but a block further
north is a decent cafe).

(There's also Hotel Bonaparte nearby, but by this time I was looking at places
below $100 so didn't check it out).

Also nearby is Hotel El Vergel - http://www.hotelelvergel.cl/ (noisy site but
has volume control) - which was fully booked, so I didn't get to see a room.
There didn't seem to be a common outside sitting area, but I was told some
ground floor rooms have terraces.  But worryingly, I was quoted a higher price
than on the web site ($92 v $79).

That's quite a range of prices within a fairly small area.  It looks like you
can get significantly better value for money by heading south away from
Providencia (and hotels that can survive down there, away from the walk-in
traffic, are probably decent...)

Andrew

Hotel Orly

From: Stefan Wehner <stw671@...>

Date: Mon, 17 Oct 2011 12:45:44 -0400

Hi,=20

Hotel Orly is a good choice, it has some character. Rooms are small but =
tastefully furnished and with so many pillows, blankets and over =
blankets that it all piled up high next to my bed when I got in for =
sleeping. They have internet and a working heating, important in winter. =
Double glazed windows, too. Staff is attentive. Their breakfast has a =
pretty good selection for being in Chile and I found the meals in the =
restaurant very tasty, I also went there a couple of times for lunch.=20

Stefan=

Nogales for the Win!

From: andrew cooke <andrew@...>

Date: Mon, 24 Oct 2011 17:42:32 -0300

I wanted to add a quick update here explaining why I finally chose Hotel
Nogales.  I got an excellent price ($70 a night) with large, clean, recently
decorated and furnished rooms, including a small kitchen area (although
without utensils).  And the location, for me, is perfect (just 5 min walk
away).

I asked the person I dealt with why it was so cheap.  It turns out that they
are under new ownership and trying to build up the business (which is a
conference centre as well as a hotel).  So I guess it is a combination of (1)
good timing and (2) a lack of conferences over christmas (the date of my
booking).

http://www.hotelnogales.cl/

Andrew

Eurotel, Guardia Vieja

From: andrew cooke <andrew@...>

Date: Tue, 25 Oct 2011 16:15:45 -0300

I forgot this hotel, whichg is also very close to where I live, but also close
to Providencia.  I didn't look at a room, but appeared clean and modern and
the price ($170) seems about right (slightly better value than many others
because it's one block away from the main street).

Andrew

Vote Against Alcala del Rio

From: andrew cooke <andrew@...>

Date: Sun, 6 Nov 2011 13:55:41 -0300

A friend stayed here a few days ago (it was the recommended hotel for the
StartTech conference).  He didn't think much of the place - the WiFi didn't
work and the window to his ground floor room wouldn't lock closed.

Andrew

Comment on this post