Mitico Puelo — Hotel in Cochamó

What a journey to get to this wonderful Lodge! It starts with leaving Puerto Varas and passing the most beautiful snow covered Volcano Osorno on a wonderful paved road full of hotels, shops and restaurants for Lake Llanquihue. An hour or more later and you are driving along another lake dotted with aquaculture for prawns and other crustaceans. Then the paved road ends. There is a long, bone-rattling journey to Lake Tagua Taqua. A boat from the lodge was waiting for us to take us across the pristine water to Mitico Puelo Lodge. ||We cannot praise our stay in the Lodge enough. It is beautifully built to provide comfortable public sitting areas. The bar is small but welcoming and the cocktails are memorable.||No one locks their bedroom doors. The rooms are exactly what one would expect in a lodge for hikers, fishermen and other outdoor types. They are comfortable but not luxurious. The balconies are perfect for late afternoon reading and reminiscing. The location is silent apart from the sound of the lake, the protective owner's and managers dogs and birds. We relished the night sky and the amount of stars visible without ambient light from cities.||Each meal was carefully prepared by the wonderful chef and his helpers. Staff are all young, passionate about the environment and eager to help. They do a season or two and move on to another location. ||We thought that Patagonia was the most important part of our trip but we got much more out of our stay here. We had a day hiking that involved the help of several local farmers. One met us off a boat to drive us to a hiking trail. Waiting on the edge of one of the cleanest, calmest lakes nestled between mountains, another farmer arrived by boat to take us across to his farm. From there we hiked to another lake and he came by quad bike, accompanied by dogs (who insisted on coming on the boat) to take us across this lake with another boat. We hiked to a remote border police station above a lake that sits in both Chile and Argentina. After returning to the boat, we were dropped off on another bank for one more hike (and lots of fresh mountain water to fill our bottles as well as blackberries rip for eating) before meeting the first farmer who took us back to meet our boat. That evening, having heard me talk to my husband about his birthday adventure, a small chocolate birthday cake arrived having been made that day by the chef. The next day was spent on a farm one hour up the river learning about life in this remote, beautiful and potentially harsh place. We can still taste the fresh mountain water, the food grown by the farmer and his wife and remember the mutual support all the locals give to each other. The Lodge is very careful to give work and fees to the locals. Our guides were respectful and friendly to everyone who helped us. ||We feel very lucky to have experienced it all. Tourism is very small in this area. Given the beauty and a way of living alien to most of us, we are surprised that the number of visitors...

RUN AWAY! Warning, do not go to this place! I'm Belgian and I spent 2 months working at this lodge. Here are the things I discovered: Employees are not treated well. The amount of food provided for employees is often far too small. I fell asleep many times on an empty stomach when I worked there. Given the location, there is no possibility of buying food. In fact, the manager told me that the year before, the lodge was "like Auschwitz" because the staff managers had decided to give the workers less to eat, so that they would relieve themselves less and use less toilet paper. The lodge is anything but eco-friendly. When I worked there, I was asked to bury cement bags in the natural areas behind the lodge! The boat that takes you to the lodge is so old and broken down that it uses 60 liters of gasoline a day, the equivalent of a full car tank. They'd have you believe there's waste sorting, but all the garbage cans are put together afterwards. Customer service is a sham. There's no pump in the pool, so it's very dirty most of the time. The wood in the Jacuzzi is not regularly maintained, so moss grows on it. Hot water is produced by fire, so you only have a few hours of hot water a day, when the fire has been properly managed. When I was there, a group of 8 people came, but there were no cooks to work, so the inexperienced manager who cooked for the visitors. This group cut short their stay at the lodge, certainly because the service wasn't good enough. There are animals in the lodge, including two cats that climb on the worktops in the kitchen and bring mice and birds into the kitchen or upstairs corridors.

Please do not give your money to these people. There is another lodge at Tagua Tagua Lake with better service and...

After a 3 hour scenic transfer from Puerto Montt airport we arrived at the jetty of Lake Tagua Tagua. We were whisked to the other side by speedboat to arrive at Puelo Mitico. It sits alone at the other side of the lake and it is a most beautiful and tranquil spot. Claudio our guide introduced us to the property and we were astonished to find we were the only people staying there. Our room (1) was a good size with a comfortable king size bed and lovely views over the grounds and lake. It was furnished simply in a rustic style and it was very clean. The ensuite shower room was small and adequate. ||Downstairs there is a bar leading into a large open plan communal seating and dining area with the kitchen at one end. It was a bit chilly during our stay and the huge log fire was lit everyday making it very cosy and welcoming. ||The staff were excellent and very keen to make our stay very memorable. Nothing was too much trouble. The food was exceptional and at both lunch and dinner we had freshly cooked delicious 3 course meals. Wine was also freely available if you wanted it and very good it was too. Claudio our guide took us on a few hikes whilst we were there. There are some amazing viewpoints close to Puelo Mitico but the climbs are quite steep and could be challenging for some. We also ventured across the lake for guided hikes to the park which was well worth doing but again it is a little steep in parts. ||We thoroughly enjoyed our time here and it is a perfect place to come for tranquility, outdoor activity and fabulous hospitality. Thank you to all the wonderful staff for making our stay so memorable. We would highly recommend...