Awasi Patagonia, Torres del Paine, Chile

Where it is

The lodge's land borders Torres del Paine National Park, deep in Chilean Patagonia: granite towers above turquoise lakes, glaciers and open steppe, home to guanacos, condors and pumas. The villas look across Lake Sarmiento to the Paine massif.

Puerto Natales is about 90 minutes by road, and transfers from there are included. Punta Arenas, with more flights from Santiago, is about four and a half hours away. It is a long journey, which is exactly why it rewards a longer stay.

Villas

Accommodation is 14 timber villas raised on stilts and spaced well apart: 13 one-bedroom villas and a single two-bedroom Master Villa. Each comes with a log burner, wide windows facing the peaks and a private hot tub on the deck. The style is warm and unfussy, so the view does the talking.

Guides, food and the rest

The real luxury is the guiding. Your villa is assigned its own guide and vehicle, and each evening you plan the next day together: the long trek up to the foot of the towers, a gentler walk to a waterfall, a horse ride with gauchos, a boat to a glacier or a day with the puma trackers. Some days you might picnic out in the hills; on others, split the day in two and come back for lunch and a rest, which suits anyone who likes to pace themselves.

Stays are fully hosted: meals in the main lodge, drinks from the open bar, private excursions and transfers from Puerto Natales are all part of the price; massages and the top wines cost extra. Awasi is a member of Relais & Châteaux and holds three MICHELIN Keys.

The moment

Evening on your deck, the hot tub steaming, as the wind finally eases and the granite towers blush in the last of the sun. And, if luck is with you, the day you and a tracker find a puma watching you back across the steppe.

Why we chose it

This is the most private way to see one of the world's great landscapes, and the freedom of your own guide and vehicle suits travellers who want adventure on their own terms rather than a fixed group schedule. It is expensive, but almost everything is included.

For more adventure with a design edge, see Juvet Landscape Hotel in Norway; for a slower, spa-led stay, FORESTIS in the Dolomites.

When to go

Awasi's rates follow three seasons. High season runs from November to February, bringing the longest daylight but also Patagonia's fiercest winds and busiest trails, plus a longer minimum stay over the festive fortnight. October, March and April are shoulder months, priced lower, with calmer weather and, from March, autumn colour in the beech forests.

From winter 2027 the lodge will stay open through the southern winter, from May to September, at its lowest rates, with snow on the peaks, far fewer visitors and better chances of spotting pumas. For travellers who can go when they like, October or April is the sweet spot, and winter is a new adventure.

The longer stay

The minimum stay is three nights, but four or five give you three full days of excursions and a buffer for Patagonia's famous weather. Combine it with Santiago, the Atacama or a fjord cruise for a three-week South American journey. Awasi also runs multi-lodge offers for longer trips; ask when you book, and note the conservation contribution of USD 150 per person per stay.