Palafito Loft — Hotel in Castro

Chiloé is truly a magical place to visit. It had been over twenty years since my last visit and on this trip realised why I had loved it so much the first time. The amazing landscapes, the incredible food and the wonderful churches so characteristic of these islands. We stayed two nights at the Palafito Loft, a real palafito (a typical pile-dwelling of the Chiloé archipelago) which has been thoroughly modernised. My family of six and two friends and their families had 5 of the apartments, so we more or less took over the place. This is a serviced apart-hotel, with good sized rooms, modern bathrooms and clear attention to detail.Our bedroom was quite dark during the day, but this is inevitable in a palafito due to the way they are constructed, and the electric lighting more than compensated for this. Our apartment was comprised of a main bedroom, a second bedroom, a good-sized and completely renovated bathroom, and a living room with a small kitchenette. It also had a wonderful terrace, from where you can clearly see that the house is built right in the ocean. During high tide, it is quite amazing, as it feels like the house is floating, and the views across the bay are astounding, so we had breakfasts and cocktails there on both days. The whole experience of staying in an actual palafito is unforgettable and my family really enjoyed our time there. I truly recommend staying here if ever you...

We stayed for a week and didn’t want to leave. We enjoyed morning coffee on the balcony overlooking the water, watching the fishermen ready their boats, watching the gulls squabbling just feet away, photographing the golden water and sky just before sunrise. Does it get any better? Yes! Viviana, our English speaking host, went out of her way making suggestions of what to see. She booked a boat excursion to see dolphins and penguins. (Would have been quite difficult to do in my basic Spanish). She greeted us each day to hear our plans and embellish them. Our apartment was spotless! The bed was incredibly comfortable. We can’t...

Our room had a lovely view of the water, was updated and clean. Furnished kitchen. The deck was large and inviting. However, the gym club 2 doors down played loud music till late Friday night and through Sat afternoon, which really affected our enjoyment of the deck, ie, we sat in the living room and closed the door. There was no coffee maker nor coffee available in the mornings nor coffee shops open even by 9:30 in the morning. So no coffee on the deck in the morning when the gym was quiet. I suppose you could buy instant and boil water. The bedroom has no windows or fan, so is quite...