The Hotel O'Higgins was the oldest hotel in the city of

Viña del Mar Viña del Mar (; meaning "Vineyard of the Sea") is a List of cities in Chile, city and Communes of Chile, commune on Zona Central, Chile, central Chile's Pacific coast. Often referred to as ("The Garden City"), Viña del Mar is located withi ...

in Chile's

Valparaíso Region The Valparaíso Region (, ) is one of Chile's 16 Regions of Chile, first order administrative divisions.Valparaíso Region, 2006 With the country's second-highest population of 1,790,219 , and fourth-smallest area of , the region is Chile's sec ...

, with 270 rooms. It is located in front of , in the center of the city. It is owned by the municipality and was managed by Panamericana Hoteles until it closed in 2020.

History

The municipality of Viña began its construction in 1931, with a design by the architects Vicente Collovich, Fernando Silva, and Arnaldo Barison. It was funded by the enactment of Law No. 4283 by President

Carlos Ibáñez del Campo General Carlos Ibáñez del Campo (; 3 November 1877 – 28 April 1960) was a Chilean Army officer and political figure. He served as president twice, first between 1927 and 1931, and then from 1952 to 1958, serving for 10 years in office. E ...

in 1928, which also helped to build the and the . It was formally inaugurated in February 1936, and since then its structure has undergone several changes, such as the opening of the main entrance on Plaza Latorre, which replaced the existing one on . For several decades, the hotel served as the hostel for artists participating in the

Viña del Mar International Song Festival The Viña del Mar International Song Festival () is an annual international music festival held every third week of February in Viña del Mar, Chile. Started in 1960 it is the oldest and largest music festival in Latin America, and one of the long ...

, and until 2006 it was the official lodging for the artists. It was then displaced by new hotels in the city, such as the Sheraton Miramar. Social meetings, events, and international conventions have also been held at the hotel. After the earthquake of 2010, the hotel refitted one of its main lounges to host shows for the while it was being repaired. That same year saw the beginning of the hotel's renovation, which included the construction of a convention center within the complex. The hotel closed in 2020 due to the

COVID-19 pandemic The COVID-19 pandemic (also known as the coronavirus pandemic and COVID pandemic), caused by severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2), began with an disease outbreak, outbreak of COVID-19 in Wuhan, China, in December ...

. It served as a quarantine site, and in 2022 as a shelter for survivors of nearby forest fires. The vacant hotel's fittings and furniture were sold at auction in September 2022. In 2024, it was used as a tetanus vaccination center, for volunteers working on cleanup after the 2024 fires.

References

External links

* {{Official website Buildings and structures in Valparaíso Region Hotel buildings completed in 1936 Hotels in Chile