SilverSpoon

Introduction Following on from my review of Awasi Atacama, here is my review of the Patagonia property. Awasi Patagonia is a remote lodge near Torres del Paine national park. It is made up of 14 individual villas each with a private hot tub. There's is one main lodge with a restaurant. There is no pool or spa facilities. Rates are on an all inclusive basis. If you're planning on travel to the Atacama Desert and Patagonia it's advisable to stick with one hotel brand. The other two luxury brands are Explora and Tierra and if you book two or more properties from the same brand you get a discount plus two complimentary nights in a connecting city (eg Buenos Aires and Santiago). Awasi has a third property in Iguazu and if you book all three properties you get a further discount and another complimentary night. I chose Awasi over the other brands because I liked the look of the individual villas and the fact that each couple or group is allocated a four-by- four and personal guide. Awasi create a bespoke itinerary for their guests whereas other properties have shared excursions. I recieved a 25% press discount for my stay here. Room My husband and I like the privacy and space of individual villas which was a key reason for selecting this hotel. The villas are spaced far apart and all a distance from the main lodge there very private.The villas were beautiful, wooden clad and absolutely pristine. Each has a fire place and stunning views across the lake. There is a fridge stocked with drinks and snacks theres local books, no TV and no Wifi. There is Wifi in the main lodge. At dinner the staff ask if you'd like the fire on so you can return to the room and enjoy the fireplace and there's a local gift at turn down.There's an entrance porch with a heater for dirty boots and wet jackets. The bathroom is also beautiful. Wooden bath with bath salts, huge shower, double sink. Like with Atacama they're a little mean about replacing the bathroom amentities which are L'Occitane. And the hot tub...This was my major disappointment perhaps of the whole trip (first world problems). I had a vision of sitting in that gorgeous hot tub with my glass of wine looking at the view...but due to poor weather conditions we couldn't use the hot tub once during our four night stay. I think that this should have been emphasised during the booking process. Apparently it cannot be used in damp conditions which honestly seems silly to me in a place where the weather is so tempramental but there we go... Check In I'll preface this by saying we had quite a nightmare of a journey getting there. I won't go into huge detail but strikes by the airline staff caused mix ups with the flights, we couldn't get our orginal flight and thought we might not get there at all. We did manage to get there in the end with a six hour delay and thirteen hour journey on about four hours sleep the night before. Without these problems the journey there is still a long one. It's a three hour flight to Punta Arenas from Santiago where a driver picks you up for a three hour drive to Punta Natales. We than met a new driver (who was to be our guide during the stay) for a further two hour drive to the hotel. In some months there are direct flights to Punta Natales. The transfer from Punta Natales is included in the cost of the hotel but the transfer from Punta Arenas to Punta Natales is extra. You can also go fly to Calafate from Buenos Aires and get there that way. This pick up, five hour drive and transfer ran incredibly smoothly despite our delays. I was emailling the Awasi head office from my phone whilst waiting for the plane to take off and they sorted our transfers with no headaches at all. We had intended to arrive in time for dinner but of course we got there more like 10.30 at night and we VERY glad to see our beds! The driver had bought us snacks for the drive but the team at Awasi had arranged soup, salad and bread in the room when we arrived which was again very well recieved. Feeling that exhausted there was absolutlely no expectation for a check in and the next day at breakfast still no formal check in, we just handed our passports in at breakfast. Service As with Atacama, I feel that Awasi Patagonia really is all about the wonderful service. Of course we had our individual guide, Daniel who was with us for the duration of our stay and drove us in a four-by-four whilst giving us the benefit of his vast knowledge of the area.As mentioned the itinerary is totally bespoke and we sat down with Daniel on our second day and talked through what we'd like to see and do during our time there. Yes, it is a place for people who are into hiking and that's not us... we wanted to see wildlife and beautiful scenery and they were able to accommodate that too. Staff in the main lodge and at the restaurant were also excellent. The service is warm and friendly and they remembered all our preferences at meal times. The service at Atacama was slightly warmer I will say. Dining A Relais and Chateaux property, and cuisine is at the forefront. There is a set menu at lunch with a few changing specials. You can have simple pastas, salad and sandwiches or go more elaborate. Dinner is more elaborate and there was a choice of three different starters, main courses or desserts. Breakfast was a beautiful buffet as well as food made to order. The Sommelier offers a wide selection of local wines and has a vast knowledge of his offerings. The dining room is beautiful and you can sit by the window with a view or by the fire. Food is very important to us, we are foodies and honestly bad food can make or break a place for us. The food here was excellent and despite the remote location, as good as any Michelin star city restaurant. Location Like Awasi Atacama, location (for some) is the downfall of this property. It does take eight hours to get there but I appreciate that it takes a long time to get to the end of the world! The lodge itself is around 40 minutes drive from Torres del Paine National Park compared to Tierra which is 20 minutes away and Explora which is actually in the park. However the hotel is high on a hill, the grounds are still beautiful and have stunning views. Amenities As mentioned there is no spa or pool but each villa has a hot tub and spa treatments can be arranged in the room. The Main lodge is beautiful with stunning views. You are asked to remove dirty boots before entering and you are supplied with slippers, this gives it cosy feeling like being at home. As we as the restaurant there's a seating area which is all cosy sofas, rugs and fire places. The main element of staying here is the excursions. You are offered half days and full days with the options of hiking, driving, cycling and horse riding. On a full day you are given a packed lunch on a half day you are taken back to the lodge for lunch. We were quite unlucky with the weather and pretty much experienced all four seasons. We went to sleep one night and awoke to a blanket of snow. I actually thought my eyes were decieving me. Snow and pouring rain meant we were very limited as to what we could do but good old Daniel made the absolute best of the situation. Our first morning we opted to relax after our hellish journey and have a long lunch and wine. The afternoon the weather was terrible so Daniel took us on a tour of the hotel grounds. On our second day he drove us into the park and we took a boat trip to see the glaciers. I really enjoyed this as I've never seen glaciers before but I will say it's on a public boat and full of other tourists plus you need to pay extra as it's not a tour run by Awasi. We had a packed lunch from the hotel and a pisco sour was included. After we were taken on a drive around Torres del Paine. Fortunately the weather did clear and we were able to get some photos. On our third day we went horse riding in the snow (amazing) and in the afternoon had a cheese and wine picnic. Maybe our activities will seem tame to the more adventurous but we just wanted to enjoy the scenery and the peace of the place. Annoyingly as we were leaving the weather cleared up! I was told that Autumn was a good time to go, but I would definitely advise people to go earlier in the year. Overall Despite the weather and hot tub disappointment we really enjoyed our time at this hotel due to the beautiful room, grounds and food. I will note that I selected this hotel first and then the Atacama one as part of the deal but we actually ended up preferring Atacama. Both are beautiful properties and I would recommend and return (if they weren't so far away from my London home!)