Having worked for many years as a guide in Patagonia during which I visited Torres del Paine more than a hundred times, I thought I was well versed in the different hotel options within and around the national park. But my recent trip back to the area with Swoop was a great eye-opener and a healthy reminder that Patagonia is full of wonderful surprises.
It had been a decade since my last visit to Hotel Las Torres. This was somewhere I always knew best for its bar, which was a favoured spot to sink a beer or two after completing the hike to the base of Torres del Paine’s famous towers. On this occasion I finally had the opportunity to stay there for three days and fully immerse myself in what it had to offer. And it was a revelation.
The History
To understand the unique character of Hotel Las Torres, you need to know a little about its history. It’s the only hotel in Torres del Paine that was originally built as a family summer home. When the Kusanovic family had settled in the Magellanes region of southern Chilean Patagonia at the start of the 20th Century, they became cattle ranchers and bought the Cerro Paine Estancia (ranch) and the land that surrounded it. Years went by with the growing family enjoying retreats at Las Torres, unaware that the area would one day become the world-renowned Torres del Paine National Park.
The small house the family ran on this vast expanse of land was extended in the early 1990s to accommodate hikers and climbers who began arriving to marvel in one of the world’s most dramatic mountain landscapes. The 10-roomed Hosteria Las Torres was finally born, maintaining a legacy that was forged in those earliest years: to protect and enjoy this most beautiful region.
The Building
Over the past 30 years, the hotel has been extended on numerous occasions to meet the demands of international tourism, yet still retains much of its rustic hosteria heritage. Today, the hotel boasts 74 rooms, with a variety of suites and family rooms to accommodate around 140 guests. There’s a large reception and a bar as well as an adjacent Quincho, a traditional ranch-like house where meals are served, that’s home to the all-important Patagonian barbecue.
There’s a charming organic feel to the way the hotel is laid out and slowly expanded over the years. It really feels like Las Torres is part of the landscape, which in many ways it is. The family-run business also constructed many of the national refugios and campsites that form part of the W Trek and Full Circuit treks, so staying here very much connects you with Torres del Paine’s heritage and founding principles.
Of course, as someone who has hiked to the base of the Towers on dozens of occasions and frequently came to the hotel for some celebratory post-trekking drinks, I was pleased to discover that the bar is still probably the best in the park. The house beer is brewed on site and many of the spirits are also distilled using aromatics from the hotel’s garden – as well as decorating their cocktails with some local Patagonian pizazz. The barman Federico was quick to point out the local foodie awards the cocktails have won for their creativity as well as the bar’s commitment to sustainable practices.
The Staff
Federico was only one of the many staff who helped things run smoothly for guests. On checking in, I noticed the hotel manager Juan Jose had his WhatsApp number available for any guests to contact him directly, which I thought was a nice personal Touch. Everyone I met at the hotel was happy to chat with me about my stay and I was even lucky enough to meet two of the owners Mauricio and Jossian, who were the grandchildren of the original Kusanovic founders of the property. Being shown photos of their grandfather, Abuelo Antonia, really brought home the history they were part of, as well as being involved in a plethora of conservation projects across the park.
There are also the guides at Las Torres. On one of my days I had a great guide called Sebastian, who accompanied me and a local baqueno (cowboy) on horse-back for three hours to a wonderfully remote mountain viewpoint followed by a two hour hike to one of the best places for looking out over the Towers – and down to the day trekkers tramping along the valley below us.
Excursions
The ride was a great way for Hotel Las Torres to show off its biggest asset, which is undoubtedly its prime location at the trailhead of the Towers, the iconic site that every traveller to Patagonia wants to see.
A stay at Hotel Las Torres is a mix of being on a ranch and a great hotel. The way the gauchos bring in the horses every evening – often right past your bedroom window – is especially wonderful.
As a result, the hotel has a great list of excursions available for its guests to enjoy. I rode on one of the 200 horses that live on the ranch, so there are plenty of horse riding options for those keen to saddle up, or there are vehicle-based tours that range slightly farther afield to show off the vast array of scenery in this magical region. And of course, the hotel is also the perfect base from where you can do the W Trek while getting to return each night to enjoy one of those cocktails at the bar before retiring to a comfortable bed and tackling the rest of the trail the following day. You might simply want to pick-and choose from the ample excursions list on an all-inclusive stay here.
Although not technically an excursion, one real highlight for me was a stop at the family’s current working ranch, Cerro Negro. I travelled to the lodge from Punta Arenas and was glad to have the five hour drive broken up with a stop here for a lamb barbeque lunch. My guide Jose showed me around the original family home and told me about what country life is like for modern-day Patagonians. With a tasty lunch washed down with a glass of vino tinto from the family’s own estate, it felt like the perfect introduction to the region after my flight down from busy cosmopolitan Santiago.
Conservation
Hotel Las Torres is also at the forefront of local conservation efforts. In 2004, the non-profit organisation Agrupación Medio Ambiental (AMA) Torres del Paine was founded at the hotel to help better protect the region’s ecosystems. Projects undertaken with AMA Torres del Paine include reforestation, sustainable trail building in partnership with Conservation VIP, the removal of cattle in the region and holistic management of the horses to help with rewilding, as well as waste management work to significantly reduce each tourist’s carbon footprint when they travel in the national park.
I was able to see the fruits of some of this work by walking the new circular self-guided conservation trail that winds for two kilometres from the hotels. It’s so new that I was the only person on the whole circuit! The trail had excellent interpretive signs along the way, and a great bird hide where I enjoyed sitting and tried to identify the different birds flitting around the small marsh in front. Torres del Paine usually lacks simple activities for people to be able to do on their own, so this trail was a lovely and quite unique offering.
In general, I loved wandering in the grounds at Las Torres, sticking my nose into the garden, hanging out taking photos of the gauchos and seeing the visitor centre which has a cool map of the whole park. I wasn’t hiking on this trip – but I also got a lot of pleasure in walking around the huge campsite on the grounds from where a lot of the hardy young trekkers set-up camp for their hiking adventures. And then seeing them in the bar in the evening after a long day on the trails of course. As an ex-guide, it’s good to see these traditions being continued!
Hotel Las Torres isn’t a luxury resort. Its historic roots and ranching heritage speak to a more homely and comfortable offering instead, and one that’s very much in sync with its location. It has a great pricing structure as well, more than holding its own when a lot of the other properties in the region are changing their peak season prices. If you’re after an authentic experience with a traditional Patagonian flavour however, this is definitely a place to consider for your trip to Torres del Paine.
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