Explora Patagonia Torres del Paine — Hotel in Torres del Paine

Since this is probably going to be long, the TLDR: The view is unbelievable, the guides do a great job, the food is good, and it's hard for me to believe there's a better way to experience this area.||We were greeted at the airport by Explora staff and took a comfortable shuttle to the hotel (about 1.5 hours). Some amount of unpaved roads, but not too bad.||After check-in there was a short orientation session that went over the five different zones for hikes, how signing up for them would work, and some general info about Explora. Right afterwards everyone was distributed among the guides where we chatted a bit about what we were interested in doing and what the weather was going to be like, and we got our first day of hikes scheduled along with tentative plans our other two days. Each day you can either sign up for a full day hike or two half-day hikes (or just one half-day if you wanted to take it easy). Full days and morning half-days leave in the 7:30-8:30 range, and afternoon half-days leave around 3:00, leaving you plenty of time to rest a bit and get lunch at the hotel. It was very windy while we were there, so the scheduled our French Valley hike for the second day since that's when it looked less windy (important since it involves a boat ride).||Hike reviews:||Pingo Chorrillo - Nice forest hike. Not a ton of views, but we did see some cool birds and the hike ends with a waterfall.|Sarmientno - More of a plains hike, amazing color of the lake and cool rock formations|French Valley - Full day so one of our longer hikes, a bit steep towards the end but amazing views of the glacier. It was warm our day so we saw (and heard!) some small avalanches too. Beer and soda and snacks waiting for us on the boat afterwards!|Aonikenk - Some interesting ancient rock paintings, but kind of a flat hike overall. Also very windy!|Laguna Negra - Gauchos led us around for some easy horseback riding.||All the guides are great, all their English was quite good, and they were really knowledgeable about the area and what we'd see on the hikes. Definitely fun to hang out with and spend a morning, afternoon, or day with. We generally didn't get the same guides though I think that's mostly luck-of-the-draw.||Rooms are spare but very nice, modern, clean, with lots of wood. The view (if you get a lake/mountain-facing-room) is legitimately startling -- it really does feel unreal. Just amazing.||Wi-fi was totally fine in all areas of the hotel. We were in room 51 which is the furthest one in the newer wing and it worked great, roughly 4mbps up/down. Easily good enough for stuff like social media and posting photos, and we could stream an episode of Jeopardy before bed without any issues (yes we're nerds). Seems significantly better than earlier reviews, maybe they got Starlink or something?||Laundry service was pricy but quick -- we could leave a bag out in the morning and it'd be ready and waiting for us the same day after dinner.||Food ranged from decent to very good. We're pescatarian so our options were a bit limited, but only a bit, since it seemed like they always had both vegetarian and pescatarian options available. Breakfast was a buffet with a few dishes you could order if you had time, and lunch and dinner were both a choice of a starter, main, and dessert, each of which had three options. We eat out a lot and have pretty high standards, and while some of the dishes were just fine, some were really excellent. I'd recommend going with the more local dishes, they were more interesting and new to us, and generally just seemed better executed. The ingredients seemed a bit limited (you'd sometimes see similar things used in different ways), but were generally high-quality. The trout in particular was very good, the tuna less so (I'm used to it being more buttery, theirs was a bit tough). It's for sure not a place I'd go specifically for the food, but it's remarkable how good it is for how remote the location is. ||They have a little automated wine machine so you can fill your own glass (or get a taste) from any of four options in the bar, though we mostly ordered cocktails which were good. Can definitely recommend the pisco sour, but the calafate sour (basically a pisco sour with some calafate juice) was definitely worth trying too.||The spa was nice for some after-hiking soaking in a hot tub, but getting their itself was a bit of a hike! It's way down a bunch of steps from the hotel itself. Worth the walk, but climbing back up at the end of the day I probably could have done without. Also it closes early at 8, so going after dinner isn't really an option (possibly because of the dark and all those steps).||They had a little store that had a small selection of basically everything you'd need, in case you forgot anything. It was pricey as you'd expect, but nice to have.||Tipping was pretty easy too, they had a little form to fill out that could either give tips to individuals or the staff as a whole, and could be charged to your card (no cash needed).||Overall, if you're willing to spend the money, highly, highly...

I am not sure I can add anything else to everyone else. But I will try.

Amazing Living the dream Dramatic views 5 star service 5 star food

It doesn't matter how long you are here for it is never long enough.

From the moment you arrive the airport to the time you are boarding your flight home. They really look after you.

Explora are the only ones who are able to have a counter in Punta Arena Airport baggage carousel. That in itself really show's the level of service they provide that even the airport respects Explora being inside before you exit the arrival hall.

You arrive the airport (whether it is Arenas or Natales) and your rooms is already assigned and waiting for you to be amazed by the dramatic hotel room view that you will experience.

This was just us arriving.

I won't talk about the in between stuff. Just read what every other 5 star rating has had to say.

On departure let's just say unlike other hotels if you are departing in the afternoon you can still participate in the morning activities. Yep really all inclusive and they don't try to push you out which was really cool.

The spa/jacuzzi Don't worry about the slippers in your room or even your robe. They provide this all for you as you enter.

Quick note - if you would like a massage book this in advance.

As you would have seen there is 1 jacuzzi inside (37C / 98F) and the 4 jacuzzi's outside (32C / 89F).

You choose. BUt I would head straight outside to the 4 jacuzzi's. Champagne is brought to you or you can ask for the beer or wine and they will have this ready as you are entering the water.

You say you are a scotch drinker? No sweat. Have a chat with the staff at the bar before you head down. Well that was my experience :)

The activities So many to choose from and regardless of your level of fitness they have you sorted.

Views No words can explain what you see. You see have to wait to see this for yourself. Even photo's do not do it justice.

Food I have no idea but the Head Chef and the staff must be paid very VERY well. The food is truly amazing. If you are one to take a photo of everything you eat then take an extra memory card or back up what is on your phone.

Beverage We all know the standard of House Spirits when at other hotels. Chivas Regal or Glenlivit is their version of House Spirits (yes I am a whisky drinker) then you have nothing to worry about in regards to quality.

I should add that the bar is probably the only place in the whole hotel that doesn't have the same commanding view to every other room. For example bedrooms, restaurant, meeting area, hallway chillout areas, relaxing fireplace seating areas.

Last but not least - you MUST "TAKE THE PLUNGE" in to the lake. It is truly refreshing. My wife and friend only went in once but for me twice a day was not enough let alone short swims in there. The staff will notice you and praise you for your braveness of jumping in there. Yes several staff approached me and really loved that guests make use of the glacier watered lake. Again very refreshing and cant wait to jump...

Reasons why not to stay or travel with Explora in Torres del Paine or Explora as a company!!

Having traveled over 30 hours from Singapore and 20 hours from Frankfurt, our friends and us were greatly inconvenienced, diseased and grossly let down by the explora staff and management at explora Torres del Paine and at Explora central reservation and in particular by head of operations Juan Pablo C.

The reasons are: upon arrival at Torres del Paine, none of our requests (eg allergies, hard mattress because of back problem) were met as reception informed us that the central reservation office had not provided them with the information (as they told us is pretty common practice); hotel reception is never manned although it states that it is a 24hr reception - guests are waiting in line to find someone to speak to; hotel is poorly managed and run - management is at best invisible; there is a gross lack of hygiene and there was open leaking sewage at the entrance of the building - during our stay, multiple guests and staff were infected by gastrointestinal problems (viral or bacterial). This was confirmed by hotel staff; upon our departure from Torres del Paine to the next Explora in Patagonia National Park, Explora had pre-organised a charter flight at 9am. We checked the flight confirmations at 11pm the day before and at 6am on the date of travel as our pick up was at 6.30am for a 9am flight. We were assured that everything was on time as arranged (after waiting for front desk staff for 30 minutes). Upon arrival at the airport we were basically dumped outside the Puerto Natales airport which was closed and then only to be informed by the flight operator (upon our initiative of calling them, again reception at Torres didn’t respond at all) that the flight had been cancelled and that the Explora team at Torres del Paine and Patagonia National Park had been informed at 1am that morning. None of this was related to us despite us asking. Upon attempting the staff at the hotel, no one picked up the phone (common practice) and finally having waited for 2 hours at the airport (essentially closed), the head of operations Rodrigo informed us that he had been asleep at the time of the alert being sent by the airline. We made our own way to the nearby The singular hotel only to be told that Explora would not entertain the fees for the stay until the next flight despite all the issues at Torres del Paine. We have paid out of own pocket for stay at The Singular and Juan Pablo was only prepared to refund the standard $250 per room; We are currently left with no onward travel confirmation to our next destination. This is from a company that we paid a very large sum to have the Patagonia experience of a lifetime; Finally, i would encourage travellers not to use this organisation in view of lack of attention to details, professionalism, cross infection control (especially in the current global status with Covid) and management of clients best interests. We will never travel with...