Awasi Patagonia

a fabulous modern lodge with great guiding

Set on a private reserve to the east of the main Torres del Paine National Park, Awasi Patagonia is a very chic and exclusive lodge.

The lodge design was inspired by the simple and practical local architecture here in Patagonia, of timber simply cut, hewn and fitted together to make rude shelters.

These apparently simple structures are discreetly tucked into the indigenous deciduous lenga forests above the serene Lake Sarmiento, with stunning views across to the national park and its iconic mountains.

Of course the twist is that the interiors of these apparently simple structures are wonderfully stylish, cosy and elegant, with the main building featuring quiet living rooms and cosy dining areas, warmed by traditional log-burning stoves.

The lodge is the world’s most southerly member of the Relais & Chateaux portfolio.

Rooms

Guest accommodation at Awasi Patagonia is in 14 large suite rooms of 80 square metres (860 square feet), which are set up on low stilts and widely spaced across the hillside.

All of the rooms are spacious and each one features a living area, a log-burning stove, a hot tub and huge picture windows with views direct out towards the famous ‘torres’ mountains.

One of the rooms is a larger Master Suite, which extends over 120 square metres (1290 square feet) and has two bedrooms, a separate lounge and an outdoor hot tub.

Activities

Awasi Patagonia offers a wide range of outdoor activities, many of which are included in the room rate.

• hiking inside the national park
• nature walks on the private reserve
• vehicle safari
• horse-riding
• puma tracking

The lodge offers private guides and vehicles to every group of guests, which enables daily flexibility and greatly enhances the overall experience.

If you want to maximise your chances of encountering pumas on foot, then it is necessary to book a very expensive three night experience, which provides access to the key Laguna Amarga area. Otherwise, puma tracking will be limited to walks on the private reserve, where the chances of significant encounters remains very low, but the experience is still fun.

The Torres del Paine area is usually visited in combination with the Los Glaciares region of southern Argentina, the two areas being connected by means of a long road journey.

These areas can be combined by air with various other locations in Chile and Argentina.

Awasi Patagonia is usually visited for 4-5 nights, occasionally shorter when combining with other lodges in Patagonia, longer if guests are up for the full range of outdoor activities.

Seasonality

The best time to visit Torres del Paine is generally considered to be during the Oct-Mar southern spring-summer-autumn period, with March tending to be the best all-round option for most people.

Deciding when to visit can be slightly complicated, since there are several distinct and often contradictory factors at play. The answer will very much depend on your sensitivities and the range of activities in which you are interested.

Getting there

Torres del Paine is usually accessed by air from Santiago to Punta Arenas, the most southerly city in Chile, which is around 250 km further south. From there it’s a road transfer of around 4-5 hours up to the reserve, mostly on good sealed roads.

There are sometimes also occasional flights from Santiago to Puerto Natales, which lies just 50 km to the south and from where it is a road transfer of just 90 minutes into the reserve.

The reserve is also often accessed by road from the Parque Nacional Los Glaciares, which lies immediately to the north, across the border in Argentina, which is in turn accessed by air from Buenos Aires or Bariloche to El Calafate.

unfortunately the lodge is very expensive