Accommodations

Downtown has camping and basic hospedajes, but Avenida Andrés Schmoelz leads south out of Puerto Octay [1] proper for about two kilometers to dead-end on Península Centinela, which has more upscale lodgings but also some affordable alternatives. The Puerto Octay Hostal Zapato Amarillo [2] is another option just a short distance north of town.

Five hundred meters south of the Plaza de Armas, Camping El Molino (Costanera Pichi Juan 124, tel. 064/391375, US$12) has lakefront campsites for up to five persons. At Península Centinela, the woodsier Camping Centinela (tel. 064/391276, US$18 per site) is more isolated.

In downtown Octay, try the aging Hospedaje Teuber (German Wulf 712, tel. 064/391260, US$9 pp), the imposing hilltop Hospedaje Barrientos (Independencia 488, tel. 064/391381, US$9 pp), or the more modern Hospedaje Costanera (Pedro Montt 306, tel. 064/391329, US$10 pp). The peninsula’s most affordable choice is the spic-and-span Hostería La Baja (tel. 064/391269, irisbravo1 [at] hotmail [dot] com, US$12 pp, breakfast included), though some rooms have low ceilings, and one or two lack exterior windows.

At road’s end, the peninsula’s showpiece is the renovated and expanded Hotel y Cabañas Centinela (tel./fax 064/391326, www.hotelcentinela.cl [3], US$108–128 s or d with breakfast), a chalet-type structure that, in its 1930s heyday, hosted guests such as the Prince of Wales. The 12 rooms retain their original natural wood, but the furniture and baths have been dramatically upgraded.

The hotel proper has far more personality than its nearby A-frame cabañas, whose rates start around US$95–112, depending on the number of guests. Off-season rates March–mid-December are about 15–20 percent lower; nonguests may also use the restaurant here.