Casa Newen Bed and Breakfast has been operating for around 8 years and in that time we have seen a rapid increase in both the number of tourists who visit Chile and the accommodations that are available in Santiago.
I mention this because over the last couple of years, we have received a number of guests at Casa Newen Bed and Breakfast who where in need of last minute accommodation because the departments, hotels and bed and breakfasts that they booked in Santiago was nothing like the photos they saw or the location was not close to the city.
Recently a very nice lady from Canada, knocked on our door asking if we had any rooms available, luckily a couple from San Francisco had just left that morning, we told her that we did and she sighed with relief and sat down to enjoy some tea that we had offered her. After some friendly chit chat she explained that she had booked to stay at a bed and breakfast in Santiago that was very close to the city and was offered a great rate, to be sure she quickly did a google search and found great reviews in tripadvisor.
Well after arriving in Santiago and waiting 1hr for her transfer to pick her up she decided to catch a taxi to her bed and breakfast. When she arrived at the address that was given to her, she found a non nondescript apartment building, puzzled she asked the taxi driver to wait as she rang the button of the complex, A nice lady appeared, and she tried to explain the situation to her.
She was shocked to learn that the “bed and breakfast” that she had booked was nothing more then a rented apartment, were a gentleman asks that they make no noise when they arrive or depart so as not to raise the suspicion of his nieghbours! Their had been various tourists that had left annoyed at the lack of services and the general lack of interest of the “host”
To Luis and my self these stories are becoming more common, we would advice anybody who is thinking of visiting Chile and more specifically Santiago to ask the bed and breakfast which there thinking of staying; how long have they been registered and licenced with the national tourism office SERNATUR and with their local town as a bed and breakfast in Santiago.
If they are not licenced or can not give you a specific answer, STAY AWAY. Of course you can always check this information at the sernatur.cl website.
Casa Newen Bed and Breakfast in Santiago de Chile, was one of the first bed and breakfasts in Santiago. We are a registered and licenced bed and breakfast for the last 8 years and apply the international bed and breakfast standards to all our services.
Adda & Luis Carvajal
Casa Newen Bed and Breakfast
contact@casanewen.com
www.casanewen.com
Our dear country was shaken by an earthquake of the magnitude of 8.8 on the Rhicter Scale.
As our dear President Michelle Bachelet said last night (6th March 2010) at the close of our Telethon for the earthquake victims, “In these hard times, there are two kinds of people, the one´s that cry and the one´s that stand up and work for a better Chile. And most of Chileans belong to the latter.
Our president also said: “Chileans are made of solidarity, love and strength” and last night this was shown as the Chilean people raised more than CLP$30,000,000,000 (USD 57,800,000 approx.) Michelle Bachelet last words to the country were “We are that Chile that stand on its feet, that cry´s when necessary, but rises again”
On a personal note, Casa Newen Bed and Breakfast would also like to thank all our past and future guests and friends that have sent us emails showing their concern for ourselves and our family.
INFO:
Casa Newen Bed and Breakfast is functioning normally. Santiago and surroundings are back to normal. The roads to Valparaiso and Viña del Mar are open. Tour companies are funcioning normally. Wineries will be open in a week. Museums will be open in a month.
The most afected areas are Maule and Bio-Bio ( coastal regional areas, 3 to 4hrs from Santiago)
Thanks again!
Adda & Luis Carvajal
Casa Newen Bed and Breakfast
contact@casanewen.com
www.casanewen.com
Casa Newen offers travelers and tourists our fun santiago tours for the summer of 2010! We organize and arrange private and group tours to the must see attractions that Santiago and Chile has to offer. The tours are with experienced bilingual guides and can be personalized to fit your needs.
There are 10 tours throughout Santiago and central Chile catering to every want imaginable! If you fancy the beach and coastline we offer tours to the iconic port city of Valparaiso and the resort city of Vina del Mar as well as the enchanting fishing town of Zapallar. The Isla Negra and Pomaire tour will take you on a journey into the life of Chile’s Nobel Prize Winner Pablo Neruda, visiting the poets home and Pomaire, the traditional potters village known for it’s handmade arts and crafts.
If you love Chilean wine then the tours in Chile offer a smorgasbord of lush green valleys and vineyards. The Wine Train Tour is a popular tour in Santiago and features an original steam train and a trip to the Colchagua valley. There are also wine tours to the Maipo Valley featuring the vineyards of Concha y Toro, Undurraga. The Colchagua Ranch Tour is a unique experience of Chilean wine and culture with a traditional folklore dance and rodeo as well as visit to the Colchagua Museum.
If you are the outdoors type then a tour of Cajon del Maipo and San jose is a sure bet. Here you will find various activities at your disposal. Trekking El Morado National Park to the San Fransisco Glacier is unforgettable as well as a visit to Colina Thermal Baths, a natural wonderland with the Andes Mountain range as your backdrop.
And finally the Dinner and Show tour highlights the best attractions that Santiago has to offer! The cultural center that is Santiago’s main square, the majestic Cathedral of Santiago and the resilience of the Presidential Palace. Finally a traditional restaurant of Santiago will introduce you to Chile’s typical dances, wines and gastronomy.
Visit our website at www.casanewen.com and view our Tours section for more info. You can also book a tour by clicking on “bookings and enquiries” or by Clicking Here you can also reach us by sending an email at contact@casanewen.com or by Tel:+56 02 716 9007 (Santiago de Chile)
We pride ourselves on providing travelers, guests and tourists our renowned personal service and friendly advice so we hope you discover Chile with our Santiago tours
Newen Craft Shop - Traditional Chilean Craft Shop by Native Artists at Casa Newen. By Adda
Quite a few years ago while living in Australia, I felt home sick and yearned to create something that reminded me of the beauty of Chile. I started to play with clay and made a rosary that is now decorating one of our guest rooms at our bed and breakfast in Santiago. My second piece was an original Mapuche women which has started to crack, as at the time I did not know that it needed to go to the kiln!
Since then, I have been interested in making ethnic - native chilean themed pottery / gres pieces as gifts or souvenirs. As I have created quite a few, the idea for our “Newen Craft Shop” was born. The purpose is to highlight the beauty and culture that Chile has to offer to all the tourists that come to Casa Newen Bed and Breakfast.
Most of the pieces that are available at our “Newen Craft Shop” including the collection of “Mates” (a mug to have “yerba mate” a herbal tea with a “bombilla”) are inspired by pre-columbian “Mapuches” and “Atacameños” (Native Chilean’s) designs. The striking miniature pre-columbian masks and other pieces are made by the well known artists Jorge Vallejos and Bernardita Vallejos.
The Newen Craft Shop is located at our bed and breakfast in Santiago and is open to all our guests and travelers all year round. If you are visiting Santiago de Chile and would like to see our unique Chilean gifts or souvenirs please do not hesitate to visit our craft shop in Providencia to take a little piece of Chile back home!
Another year is gone… we have meet so many nice people from all over the world and the most important thing is that we have learned from each other, sharing our culture differences, the languages and even sharing some political point of views! What we really like is for guests to leave Casa Newen and Chile with great memories and new friends.
One of the great things that happened last year was related to the wine industry in our country. One of our wines was awarded by the Magazine “Wine Spectator” as being amongst 100 top wines from all over the world, our “Clos Apalta 2005” from “Casa Lapostelle - Colchagua Valley” won 1st Prize.
The Colchagua region is located about 128km southwest of Santiago. It enjoys a balmy, Mediterranean climate matched in only a few other places on earth. Currently the Colchagua Valley has about 50,000 acres of vineyards. The predominant varietals are Cabernet Sauvignon, Merlot, Cabernet Franc, Carmenère, Malbec, and Syrah, with lesser amounts of Chardonnay, Sémillon, and Sauvignon Blanc. Most of our guests visit the picturesque town of Santa Cruz, located in this region.
Talking about wine we would like to rise our glasses with a nice Chilean Carmenère and say SALUD! and wish all our guests from the past years and the future, a very Happy and rewarding 2009!!
After being spectators to the magnificent fireworks in Viña del Mar, we are ready to welcome the New Year and of course our new guest!
Hi everyone,
This year we went down to the local park Inez de Suarez, Providencia, Santiago, to celebrate Independence day and took some photos. We had some ¨churros¨ which are doughy sweet sticks covered with icing sugar, tried some Chicha (sweet fermented wine) and had a dance to ¨La Cueca¨ under the Chilean Flags.
It’s that time of the year again! but this time we have promised to get all our Christmas presents on time for the family’s children, and believe us, we are a large family!
So we decided to get some bargains at the little shops close to “El Mercado Central” and have the chance to eat a good sized plate of fresh sea food …“erizos al matico”, after finishing our shopping spree.
You can feel that summer has already arrived, these last few days have been very hot, a maximum of 32° and people are rushing to get their presents.
Fortunately our “Metro” (Subway) is very fast. So from Manuel Montt Metro station to Universidad de Chile, there are only five stations, to get to “El Paseo Ahumada” or down town Santiago. While passing through “Plaza de Armas” you can see posters that read “Christmas is coming, don`t forget its real meaning”…
Close to the “Plaza de Armas” we can see, as an oasis in a desert, a cart selling our traditional beverage “Mote con Huesillos”, a typical Chilean non alcoholic drink and dessert. It is boiled sun-dried peaches (huesillo) with sugar, mixed with husked wheat (mote). The cool sweet flavored water and the wheat is mixed in a glass with the peaches … Oh so refreshing!
Casa Newen Bed and Breakfast whishes everybody a very Merry Christmas and a Happy New Year!
Every house in Chile is dressed in white, blue and red. Our national flag waved of joy at Casa Newen. September has woken up with music and flavour…the 18th is coming and we will celebrate our Independence Day with “empanadas” and “cuecas”.
Our souls step to their own dance and the kites graciously race to touch the sky.
With barbecues, “empanadas” and a beautiful glass of red wine on the 18th of September.
While couples dance the “cueca”, the children are busy kicking the ball…
The “asado” is ready! everyone to the table we are going to toast :
For our Independence Day and democracy!! Without it we couldn`t celebrate. It would be like an “empanada” without the filling or a barbecue without a glass of red wine.
According to the experts, culture shock is simply a common way to describe the confusing and nervous feelings a person may have after leaving a familiar culture to visit or live in a new and different culture.
Generally when tourists visit a new place they are excited about a new adventure. However not being able to understand what people are saying is almost as frustrating as not knowing how to make people understand what you are saying. It’s a good idea to learn key words of the foreign language before visiting a new country.
It might make you uncomfortable when it takes you twice as long to say the same thing as a native speaker, or use the wrong word, but remember that if you are visiting Chile you have nothing to worry about, Chilean people are very helpful and friendly.
Some times our upbringing has made it difficult for us to accept other customs and believes. When we do accept the diversity of our own culture, we’ll be more open to accept the universal diversity and the globalization within the diversity. So, rather than giving up your culture so you can fit in, keep your mind open to new ways of doing and thinking about things. Notice things that are the same and things that are different. Appreciating that variety is what makes people so interesting.
Remember, the key to getting over your culture shock is understanding the new culture and finding a way to live comfortably within it while keeping true to the parts of your culture that you value.
The Passenger
She came from another land
In Chile, the brother of her California she found
Our way of thinking was difficult for her to understand…
the street dogs broke her heart
and Pablo Neruda love poems made her read
“La Chascona” she called herself
and in Bellavista with “poncho” of alpaca
and jewels of silver, her body was wrapped
With music of Intillimani and an Italian soprano
she sailed by the desert until finding San Pedro de Atacama
and in less than a week she was back
She went in search of “something” I did not know what…
On her return she was different, dancing and singing with a celestial voice
something that expressed “only think about the roses, not the thorns”…
and after her visit to the pre-Columbian museum
pledged with the “quipu” incaico of knots of colors, she came
“Chupalla” and hat of huaso she took
they would decorate the walls of her house in Washington D.C, she declared
I saw her leaving with a different expression than the one she arrived with
and in spite of announcing to be ready to return home
I saw sadness in her eyes…
and I knew that she would return to admire the indigenous people,
their “quipu” and its magic soul.
“Casa Newen Bed & Breakfast” Santiago, Chile, March 2007
Right now in Chile we are celebrating our “Semana Santa”. Casa Newen would like to wish all Chileans and travellers to our beautiful South American country a happy “Semana Santa”.
