Refugio & Camping Vertice Paine Grande — Attraction in Torres del Paine

I stayed 3 nights in the campground in my own tent. It's a high volume campground on a very windy site, so don't expect a peaceful experience. Also, if you're pitching your own tent, there aren't actual sites, you just go into the field of tents and try to find a spot. You won't find a level one. Contrary to other reviewers, I found the quantity of bathroom facilities to be okay, but many people didn't seem to realize that there are 2 separate blocks of bathrooms. However, I only showered in the (almost empty) furthest block because the closer one had a line, and the water in that block was never really hot. You press a button and get 10 seconds of cold water, 10 seconds lukewarm, and 10 seconds cold. Soap up and repeat. And the door to the shower area blows open in the wind, letting in cold air right in the changing area. Maybe this is why no one else went there!! The common cooking and dining area was nice to have so you could cook and eat out of the wind and at tables, but it was far from adequate for the number of people, and there is no hot water. There was always a line for the sink, and since people are generally gross when it comes to common kitchen facilities, one side of the sink was always stopped up and ready to overflow. The trash bin was also overflowing at dinner time, though there were other trash bins just outside that were empty. And people were cooking in the dining area, one of whom ended up spilling his entire pot by accident all over the table, floor, and my husband, who fortunately only ended up with a dirty jacket instead of burns down his back. It wasn't the only spill we saw, and there are no cleaning supplies available to deal with all the messes that happen. I know a lot of this depends on the other campers, but at the very least, there need to be cleaning supplies and more frequently emptied trash bins. More sinks that are cleaned from time to time would be better still, along with a staffer educating all the people cooking in the dining area...right on top of the multi lingual signs that say no cooking in the dining...

The location and scenery is amazing - you pretty much have no option but to stay here if you are doing the W trek. However, vertice’s monopoly over this area seems to mean they think it’s ok to provide appalling accommodation for extortionate prices.

We stayed in a room with 6 people - it was very cramped and dirty with no space to put bags anywhere. It also got suffocatingly hot smelly and humid at night so no one could sleep. We also get bitten in the night - likely by bed bugs!!

The bathrooms are very old and dirty, and there are not enough for the number of people. Make sure you get a shower as soon as you arrive from your hike, as there will be fewer people / it will be cleaner. The toilets were not cleaned frequently enough for the high volume.

The food was terrible - we paid c. $50 each for a buffet which was some of the worst food we’ve ever eaten. Mystery meat was inedible, basic cheap pasta and rice etc. Recommend that you instead buy the burgers / pizzas on site which are cheaper and looked more edible. There is also a well stocked mini market (with instant noodles, pasta etc) Vertice staff need to visit the Las Torres sites as for the same price, and arguably more remote locations, LT provides far superior food and services.

The staff were also useless - all young people with bad attitudes providing slow and rude service. The only good person was the manager (small guy with dark long hair) who was amazingly helpful and...

My wife and I had an amazing time in Torres del Paine, and we really enjoyed our stay at Paine Grande refugio. It is a beautiful Lodge and after 3 nights in a tent we were thrilled to have a nice bed and tasty meal.

Unfortunately, on the morning of January 16th, I noticed that my headphones were not on the table in our room where I had left them before exiting the room. We later found that from my wife's bag she was missing 200,000 in Chilean pesos ($306USD). Based on the timing we believe that when we went down for breakfast, someone entered our room on the second floor. My wife and I both emailed customer support multiple times letting Vertice know the situation and asking if there might be a way to review camera footage to see if they might be able to figure out what happened. We also suggested that in the future guests be given a room key so that the room can be locked. We did not hear back once. We should have brought our money with us and there may be nothing Vertice could do, but to have our stuff gone through and also get no responses to our emails is frustrating.

I hope our concerns can be addressed in the future, so that other guests don't have an amazing experience in TDP tainted by personal items and money...