Crystal blue lakes and glaciers . . . Endless pampas  . .. soaring mountain pinnacles. This is Chile’s Patagonia. It is one of the wildest, most remote places on earth that, in the words of Charles Darwin, will “possess (your) mind and enhance the horizons of (your) imagination.” Early settlers, many of them from Germany, Scotland, Wales and Croatia, struggled mightily to survive this harsh land, but if you travel to Patagonia today, you don’t have to suffer such privations. The Tierra Patagonia Hotel and Spa, on the outskirts of the Torres del Paine National Park, will provide you with all the comforts of home and much more.

After almost 30 hours of travel from North America, including 10 takeoffs and landings, we finally arrive at the tiny airstrip of Puerto Natales, Chile, the closest town to the Torres del Paine National Park. It is still another 90-minute drive to reach the hotel. Truly we are at the ends of the earth.

As we drive over the pampas on a rough, washboard dirt road, there is no sign of human habitation, only the sun setting behind the majestic granite mountains and herds of guanacos and sheep munching the straw-colored grass. Suddenly, over the rise, an anomaly, a large flat surface, barely visible, peeks out from behind the edge of a bluff. It is the roof of the Tierra Patagonia Hotel.

As you walk into the great room that serves as the centerpiece of the hotel, the view outside the floor-to-ceiling window is riveting with sparkling blue Lake Sarmiento and the towering granite pinnacles of the Torres del Paine massif on display.  Each of the 40 guest rooms has the same view. As you lie in your ultra-comfortable king-size bed with the blinds open, you can watch the interplay of light and clouds, stars and moonlight, wind and waves on the landscape outside. With almost 16 hours of sunlight a day, the variety is endless.

Everything inside the hotel is designed to accentuate the local environment. The building is constructed from the local lenga wood and blends in perfectly with the landscape; the furniture is locally handcrafted; Patagonian textiles and wood provide the accents. Dining room chairs are covered with sheepskin as are the comfortable armchairs scattered around the dramatic central fireplace near the oval bar. It is the perfect place to sit and read after an exciting day of exploring.

Nearby a large map of the area covers a wall of the great room. This is where the guides gather to outline the daily excursions that are organized to the Torres del Paine park and its surroundings. Regrettably, while we are there, a forest fire consumes many hectares of the park resulting in a temporary closure of some of the more iconic hikes. However, the Torres del Paine National Park is massive and the guides have developed an entirely new set of hikes and excursions to areas unaffected by the flames.

Returning from an all-day hike in the mountains, we enjoy a massage at the UMA Spa followed by time in the Steam room and sauna as well as the pool with its invigorating jets. Outside the window, a small grey fox scampers across the pampas while rheas (desert ostriches) wander sedately towards the lake. A caracara hunts for its dinner, swooping, unafraid, across the windows of the hotel. Soon it will be time for a glass of wine and dinner as the sun sets over the lake, turning the sky into a canvas of riotous colors, indicative of the ‘Spirit of the Far South.’

The brainchild of the Purcell family (who also own the Tierra Atacama Hotel in San Pedro de Atacama, the Tierra Chiloé on the island of Chiloé and the ski resort of Portillo), the Tierra Patagonia Hotel and Spa is an oasis in the harsh lands of Patagonia. Once you have visited, the Darwinian prediction will have been realized.

IF YOU GO
The Tierra Patagonia Hotel and Spa is located on the shores of Lake Sarmiento just outside the Torres del Paine National Park (+56-2-263-0606. It is open from September to April.

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