I haven't posted here for a long time, but I wanted to add my 2 cents to this topic just because I went to Santiago in January and had searched on this board for info on hostales and there weren't a whole lot of posts for this location. Epaulino4, I don't know much about the hostals you mentioned, but I can recommend one that I stayed in.
I stayed in the Hostal Alfonso, which is in a great location. It's right off of the park. The hostal has, I think 6 or 8 rooms with either a park view or an amazing view of the Cathedral (one of the best in the city). The location, for me, was ideal because you are basically right on the border between the old and new parts of the city. The cathedral is about a 5 minute stroll (if that) from there and the new part, about 3 minutes. Also, it's very easy to orient yourself from this location, which, for me, was important (Santiago has lots of tiny streets that don't seem to make sense to me, but then, I get lost easily). It is on a main street, but it's very quiet. There's a taxi rank just up the street, the buses are nearby as well (about 2 minutes from the hostal to the Plaza de Galicia which is where most buses stop). The hostal itself is quite small, but well-appointed. I saw all of the rooms, and they are all decorated differently. I stayed in the single upstairs, which was very small (a TINY bathroom-- like one meter wide, but has everything you need including a hairdryer), and it had a fabulous view of the cathedral (you can see this room on their website
www.hostalalfonso.com in English and Spanish). They probably have the best towels I've every seen in any hotel or hostal. Breakfast is included in the price of the room.
Mari Carmen and her husband are the owners and are just wonderful people and extremely helpful and knowledgable about Santiago, and can give you advice and recommendations on just about everything. I don't know if they speak English-- I think that one of them does. Oh, the other thing is that the rooms are very, very clean and have heating (very important!). My room was very basic, bed, nighttable, closet, and desk and chair with bathroom, but adequate for me. The owners pay attention to small details-- fresh flowers in the rooms, hairdryer, candy, newspapers to read at breakfast, etc. I stayed for a week and enjoyed my stay in the hostal very much. I think I paid 32 euros per night (that was with IVA included and breakfast). It is a great place, with great owners. But, be forewarned, if you do stay in the single, and are a big person, again, it is small. The doubles are bigger with more space (one of them has a very charming enclosed glass balcony that looks out over the park).
Anyway, sorry I couldn't help you with the other hostals, but I hope this information helps.
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