I stayed in hospedajes, which are Bed & Breakfast. They were pretty cheap when I was there, about US$10 in 1995. The Footprint guide was excellent for reliable suggestions on reader-recommended hospedajes. I did not reserve any. My trip was in December. Chileans typically don't go on summer vacation until after New Years Day, so I never had a problem finding a room. I think January would have been a different story in the Lake Region. For the Carretera Austral, I think you'd have to camp. Outside of Santiago, Chile is tends to be sparely populated. There are also a limited number of paved roads in the country. My 2 crossings of the Andes were on dirt roads, though I think one of them has since been paved. I rode a mountain bike on that trip. The passes (and mountains) in the Lake Region are much lower than passes further north. Neither pass was particularly difficult.