Well this is pretty cool

[gringalais]

My husband works for the government here and people where he works are affiliated with something called a "Caja de Compensación", which I don't quite understand, but it provides certain benefits to members like unemployment insurance and housing subsidies. It also operates hotels and cabañas in various parts of the country that members can stay at for reduced rates. Some of his co-workers have stayed at them and said they are really nice.

It turns out that when getting married, he is eligible for a voucher for accomodation that works out to about 2 nights free. So we may be able to do a little honeymoon getaway sooner than we thought, especially since there are some good deals on domestic flights now that the main vacation season is over. Now we just need to decide where to go. The south is starting to get colder, so we are thinking the north. In the north they have places in Iquique or La Serena, so we will probably end up going to one or the other.

Iquique:
www.laaraucana.cl/sectorpym/?seccion=7&cont=1

La Serena:
www.laaraucana.cl/sectorpym/?seccion=7&cont=2

[Deleted]

Mar 10, 2009 19:13:22 GMT gringalais said:

My husband works for the government here

It is so cool to see how nonchalantly you write that!

It's nice that Chile has that sort of thing. We sort of take it for granted in Europe, and it's good that this sort of thing is spreading around the world.

[hwinpp]

I'd go for Iquique. Looks more lively.

[happytraveller]

I'd go for la Serena. It looks more romantic. ;D

[gringalais]

Well, it turns out that the honeymoon deal is not at all the places. La Serena is an option but not Iquique. We just have to show them the Libreta de Matrimonio (the little booklet that you get at the ceremony) at check-in and 2 nights are free. That is the place with cabañas, I think a bit more secluded and romantic like happy says. Also, I have only been there once for a short visit the first time I lived here 14 years ago, whereas I went to Iquique a few years ago with my ex since he has a lot of family there. La Serena is also about 7 hours by bus. We did the night bus when we went to Elqui Valley and it is not too bad if you take the salon cama service. So, overall even if we had the two possibilities available, it looks like La Serena is the best choice.

[Deleted]

Don't look a gift horse in the mouth!

[hwinpp]

That's practically the exact translation of a German proverb as well...