The Singular Santiago: A 1920s Members’ Club in Chile’s Buzziest Neighborhood

Santiago often gets treated as a transit lounge. People land, sleep somewhere forgettable, and fly out to Patagonia or the Atacama the next morning. The Singular Santiago makes an argument for lingering a while in the Chilean capital, which makes sense given its origin story: it's the younger sibling of The Singular Patagonia down in Puerto Bories, so this building exists precisely because of all those travelers bookending a trip through Chile. The difference is that it doesn't behave like a waiting room. It’s got sixty-two rooms across nine floors on Merced, right in the middle of Lastarria, with a basement spa, a 24-hour gym, two bars, a restaurant doing French technique on Chilean produce, and a rooftop pool and terrace on the ninth floor.

The building only dates to 2014, which you wouldn’t guess from standing in it. Chilean designer Enrique Concha built the interiors around the idea of a 1920s private members' club, the vibe is very much that: dark walls, parquet floors, olive-toned leather furniture, brass fixtures against black-lacquered frames, hallways with high ceilings. Hanging on all of it is a slightly oddball collection of ink drawings and prints, parakeets and curtseying maids and the Eiffel Tower, among other interesting things. The family history behind it explains some of this: the hotel is the project of Felipe Sahli, whose father ran Santiago's Hotel Crillón, the city's great luxury address, until the Seventies, which means this is a second-generation attempt at something Santiago used to have and then lost.

The Singular Santiago’s got sixty-two rooms in five categories, spread across floors two through eight. The rooms are handsome and understated—muted creams and greys, polished hardwood desks, leather chairs, the occasional piece of delicate Louis XV furniture, marble bathrooms with deep soaking tubs and a quirky porthole window. Some rooms face a central courtyard and get very little daylight even at midday; others look onto the balconies of the apartment buildings next door. The categories with French balconies are the ones to ask for, since a step-out balcony in Santiago is pretty rare, and the front-facing ones point toward Cerro San Cristóbal. Ask for something that doesn't face the courtyard when you book if you can.

The Singular Restaurant on the ground floor is the main room, with all leather chairs, wood panelling and checkerboard tile, and it's run by French-trained executive chef Hernán Basso, who applies French technique to Chilean produce—Pacific scallops and oysters, Patagonian lamb that nods to the sister property, and the like. I only ate breakfast here, so I can't vouch for dinner, but breakfast is served à la carte and it's a proper sit-down rather than a buffet: coffee and juice and fruit and pastries arrive as you wish, and you order eggs and the rest off a menu. The other two outlets are Bar Merced, which is the lobby bar, and the ninth-floor Rooftop Bar, which has a 26-foot marble bar, a terrace, views toward the Andes and San Cristóbal, and the city's best-reviewed pisco sour hour. The rooftop was closed for renovation while I was there, so I can’t comment on the vibe, but I’ve heard it’s quite nice.

The wellness floors are underground. There are four treatment rooms with jacuzzis, a sauna and steam room bookable privately and divided by a mosaic twin shower, tea stations, loungers, and the kind of sound insulation that makes you forget there's a city directly overhead. The spa is also open to non-guests, which could be a hack if you've checked out for the day and have a late flight to catch—a massage and a steam before a long-haul is a better use of five hours than an milling around at the airport lounge. The gym is a level below the spa, open around the clock, and adequately equipped. I didn’t book any treatments so I can’t comment on the quality of the services offered.

What you're really getting here is a full-service hotel at boutique scale. The Singular joined Leading Hotels of the World two years after opening, and the staff deliver—concierges who actually know the restaurant scene, housekeeping twice daily, and a general willingness to solve odd problems (like bubble wrap for the Chilean wine you're flying home with).

Lastarria’s the hip, gallery-dense pocket of Santiago that’s a big draw for booking The Singular—the neighborhood itself is dozen or so walkable blocks of European architecture, wine bars, bookshops and good coffee wedged between Cerro Santa Lucía and Parque Forestal, which sits directly across the road from the hotel. It's been a designated historic district since 1997, and it's the neighborhood I'd point any first-timer toward. The Gabriela Mistral Cultural Center is a couple of minutes away, Bellas Artes metro is two blocks, the Museo Nacional de Bellas Artes is a short walk, and the Museo Chileno de Arte Precolombino is about fifteen minutes on foot.

The one place I'd send you without hesitating is Bocanáriz wine bar, a short walk up Calle Lastarria, which was the perfect vibe for a solo dinner. The list is organized by region and style rather than by producer, the flights are great for tasting multiple options, and the staff will happily steer you in a direction you wouldn't have picked. Beyond that, Chipe Libre is nearby if you want to get into the Chile-versus-Peru pisco argument, Barrio Italia is the vintage-and-nightlife detour, and La Vega Central with the adjoining Patronato district is where to eat if you want the city rather than the neighborhood. Use Uber after dark rather than walking back through the Centro.

Location: Santiago, Chile

Address: Merced 294, Santiago Centro

Rooms: 62

Rating:

Pricing: From $224 a night 

Dining & Cocktails: The Singular Restaurant and Café 294 (ground floor, Chef Hernán Basso), Bar Merced (lobby), Rooftop Bar and terrace (ninth floor)

Amenities & Services: Subterranean spa with four jacuzzi treatment rooms, sauna, steam room, 24-hour gym, seasonal rooftop pool, room service, laundry, parking, Wi-Fi, concierge, airport transfers on request

Nearest Airport: Comodoro Arturo Merino Benítez International (SCL)