Originally Posted by
Eastbay1K
Your neighborhood is going to have "did I really leave the USA" shops and restaurants, and will be completely uninteresting in the morning (and not too interesting at later hours, either, although one of the best wine shops anywhere is located in the building with the W Hotel nearby. If Los Dominicos doesn't kill enough time, you can always hang out in the Costanera Center mall until your room is ready.
IIRC Costanera even has an Applebee's! But if it's a clear day you can go to the top of that tallest building in Latin America and see the view (or even if it's not a clear day).
That whole part of town is like an HQ for the gringo will-not-adapt crowd, though if you're spending hotel points it's almost inevitable you end up there. I usually stay either in Barrio Lastarria or the Paris-Londres area just south of downtown...there are lots of independent hostels and a few good hotels like the Novapark. The nearby attractions are much more interesting and the food/drink choices much better, as most of the top TripAdvisor independent places will be in the arc from Barrio Bellavista to Barrio Brasil.