Seymours in Chile: Patagonia

Bright and early on Monday morning, the four of us headed to the airport to fly to Puerto Natales in Patagonia. Chile is fascinating in that it has such a wide variety of terrains, and although it doesn’t seem like a huge country, it was a 3-hour flight from Santiago to Puerto Natales.

You could nearly see our resort from the Puerto Natales airport, so that was a blissfully short drive once we arrived. The Singular was a five-star experience in every aspect, and a really interesting facility, too: It’s a converted factory from the 1800s, and the architect was careful to preserve as much of the original footprint as possible. Lots of glass with views of the brick and antique equipment beyond. 

And our rooms! Each had a picture window overlooking the Ultima Esperanza (Last Hope) Sound. Breathtaking. However, our rooms weren’t ready for us when we arrived, so left our bags and took a taxi into the town to get some lunch and wander around. We had a delicious pizza lunch, based on the recommendation of the concierge at The Singular, and then we poked around the various shops - at least, the ones that were open. Turns out they embrace the siesta concept I’ve always associated with Spain. 

Eventually we opted to walk back to the hotel, which took about 45 minutes. It was a lovely day, and a nice way to get some fresh air. We then indulged in the fabulous showers that each room offered, and ultimately made our way to the fireside lounge and dinner. 

The next day we set out on our first of two excursion days, this one with all four of us. The plan was that a guide and driver from the hotel would take us on two short hikes in the Torres del Paine Park, with an alfresco lunch in between. The park was about a 90-minute drive from the hotel, but it was very picturesque, and we saw wildlife including condors and guanacos (a native Chilean llama). 

We quickly navigated the first hike, and Nico (our guide) told us we walked about twice as fast as his groups normally do. This is probably a good time to mention that we were definitely the youngest residents of the hotel! Since we weren’t quite ready for lunch (which they had already set up for us picnic style), they swiftly packed it up and we headed to our next hiking destination, about 30 minutes away.  

It turns out this was far enough away to have different weather - the wind had really kicked in, and Laura was not a fan. In fact, it was so windy that they park rangers shut down the trail, so we weren’t able to do our second hike. We walked a few minutes to see a beautiful waterfall, but it was VERY windy and chilly, so we did not linger. We made our way back to the hotel, stopping for a couple of scenic views along the way.

Since we returned early, Laura and I headed to the spa pool, which was really cool. It was set along a window overlooking the sound, and there was an indoor/outdoor component that we both took advantage of. From there we had another luxurious evening in the fireside lounge and dining room.

For our second day of excursions, we split up. Tim and Danny set out on an ambitious 16-mile hike in the Torres del Paine Park, on a quest to conquer the base towers. Laura and I, meanwhile, set off of a catamaran to sail through the fjord and see glaciers - with a barbecue lunch on a ranch (or estancia) on the way back.

Thankfully, Tim and Danny got a gorgeous day for their hike, and while it was extremely rigorous, they did it and were rewarded with some stunning views. This hike was a portion of the W Trek that Clare and her friends did on their spring break back in October, and it gave us all much more appreciation for the intensity of her experience. 

Laura and I also really enjoyed our day, making friends from our hotel on the boat, getting up close to a pretty incredible glacier. The barbecue on the way back was absolutely delicious, too - Laura gobbled 4 lamb chops along with a chorizo, much to the amusement of our hotel friends/table mates.

We enjoyed one final evening of dining at The Singular - and Laura enjoyed some celebrity as our table mates came up to meet the guys and to thank Laura for alerting them that they could, in fact, order lamb chops despite them not being listed on the menu. (We got that tip from our first guide.) We all agreed that Patagonia was a pretty spectacular place!