Facilities & Services

There are three areas of facilities. The Nevados de Chillan main centre is about a quarter of the way up the ski area. A kilometre or two down the road, there are various services and facilities at the Gran Hotel (near the casino), and more amenities down at the base of the ski area.

Eating On Mountain Guests at the Gran Hotel generally have lunch at the Shangri-La restaurant as it’s included in the package. This incredibly fancy restaurant is also open to the public.

Poles apart from the gorgeous food at the Gran Hotel is the cafeteria at the main centre of Nevados de Chillan. Fare is typical for a cafeteria with hamburgers and fries being the highlight. They also sell beers and sometimes have wine tasting here. Café Schlott is inside the cafeteria selling coffee, hot chocolate and snacks. For sunny days, there’s a huge deck area for a spot of sunbaking.

La Cabana cafeteria is further up the mountain at the base of El Pillin chair. This can be a nice place to perch and take in the views if you can cope with the daggy old songs they have blaring from the speakers. There is also Cafeteria El Bosque down at the base of the mountain, and for a cute dining option there is a small bar on one of the trails below the mid-mountain area.

See the Nevados de Chillan restaurants page for more information on restaurants at Nevados de Chillan.

Facilities for Children Childcare is available at the Gran Hotel. The nursery is open from 0900 until an amazing 2200. This is lucky considering that the restaurants at the hotel and casino are not particularly child friendly at dinner time. Child care for ages 3-7 is courtesy of the hotel, but babysitting for ages 0-2 attracts an additional charge.

The Gran Hotel also has a range of daily activities for children of different ages.

Nevados de Chillan Ski School The Hotel Gran has their own ski school which is fabulously convenient for those staying at the Gran or the on-mountain apartments. A few of the ski instructors speak adequate English. This ski school is only permitted access to the lower parts of the mountain, so it's only suitable for beginners. Set amongst the trees, this area is incredibly protected from the elements.

There is another ski school up at the Nevados de Chillan hub. They only have one English speaking ski instructor and one snowboard instructor, so the chances of being able to participate in a group lesson in English are slim. However a one hour private lesson is reasonably priced at $37,000. If your Spanish is good, a 2 hour group class costs $30,000 (2009 rates).

Nevados de Chillan Ski Rentals & Snowboard Hire There is ski rental available at all three hubs at Nevados de Chillan. Only standard ski and board equipment is available. You won't find demo skis, fat skis or anything fancy. Ski set rentals at the Nevados de Chillan hub is $17,000 per day (2009 rates). It's a fraction more expensive down at the Gran Hotel but if you are staying at the Gran Hotel (or other resort accommodation) and the ski rental is charged to your room, the tax is not included. Regardless of price, for most people the choice about where to hire from is most strongly based upon the convenience of location.

The town of Las Trancas has various ski and snowboard shops that have rental equipment. Most accommodations either have their own rental shop or there’s one nearby. The price and quality is fairly comparable to that on the mountain.

Banking and Internet Facilities Wireless internet is available throughout the Gran Hotel.

There is a Redbank ATM at the casino - of course!