Hostería El Pilar — Hotel in Santa Cruz Province

As we drove from the airport of El Calafate to El Chalten, we thought that no scenery ever anywhere could possibly be this beautiful. The snow-covered mountains literally glowed, and the lakes and fields looked like they were crafted from a fairy tale. When our driver went through the little city of El Chalten and entered a gravel road, we thought surely he was lost. After several miles on the gravel road, we finally came to our cozy boutique hotel. At that point, our jaws needed lifting off the ground. El Pilar is on a gorgeous stream and smack dab in the center of the most magnificent scenery we've ever experienced. There are no words to describe our astonishment when we saw that our bedroom window directly faced Fitz Roy, the actual mountain that the Patagonia clothing logo is based on. The hiking right out the door is beyond legendary (we hiked 10 miles one day and 11 the next), and every single other aspect of El Pilar is EVERY bit as special. The remarkable hosts, Christine and Guillermo were utterly accommodating and charming, and the inclusive 3 meals a day were as delicious as any restaurant we've ever enjoyed anywhere! The other guests we met were from all over the world, and were all totally engaging and lovely. El Pilar is like no other experience on Earth, and it was not only the highlight of Argentina, but one of the absolute highlights of our travels around the...

We greatly enjoyed spending two full days here in the middle of the mountains. The popular day hike to Campamento Poincenot and (if you're ambitious) Laguna de Los Tres starts outside the door, and we could see the famous peaks each morning from our window. Another day we did a different hike that starts about 1 km further down the road.||||Since it's an isolated spot, we relied on the Hosteria for our meals, which were wonderful. Breakfasts are included, packed lunches are available, and for dinner you can choose from a menu of several delicious items. Our room and the common areas were very pleasant and were great for relaxing after a strenuous day. The proprietors were unfailingly helpful and gave us all the advice we needed on trekking options.||||If you don't want to rent a car, you can take a bus from El Calafate to El Chalten (we used Lengas) and then continue on route 23 (it becomes a gravel road at that point) by taxi to the Hosteria. Also after your trek to Poincenot, for variety you can hike downhill into the town and then take...

On a recent hiking trip through Patagonia, Hosteria El Pilar stood out as our favorite lodging for a variety of reasons. The location was superb with lots of hiking possibilities and unrivaled views. The hospitality could not have been more warm and gracious with Christina, Guillermo and their staff always available and welcoming. The food was beyond a doubt the best of our trip... every day for four days. Unique tasty dinners (with out of this world desserts by Christina), cooked to order delicious breakfasts, and lunches made to order for take away with home made snacks. the room was great and the common areas warm and inviting. We will never...