ChileTour Patagonia — Local services in Puerto Natales

ChileTour Patagonia is a great choice if you want to do the trek with the stress removed. We booked well in advance and the response and communication from the team was quite quick. We initially met at their cabins/garden domes for a briefing, check in, and a meal in town with the group (which was fantastic, btw). Ricci, the owner, is super friendly, and very chatty. He tends to go off on a tangent, so the briefing was longer than necessary. Not a big deal however. Gonzalo was easy to reach via WhatsApp with any questions we had. Our accommodations were simple yet well appointed. We had booked the garden domes for a night, but got placed in the cabins. When we inquired as to why (there was availability), they offered to move us right away. We already had settled into the cabin however, so chose to stay there. We were ultimately refunded for the garden domes extra cost. The food.... honestly, I didn't think we'd be fed as well as we were. They were even able to accommodate my gluten free diet on short notice. Ricci went above and beyond for this. My stomach thanks you, Ricci, for that. And no problem getting gf in the refugios as well. Refugios were great. We had a raised tent one night (thought we had booked the main bldg), but in the end these were super cool and we enjoyed it. Glad we had that experience. The drivers (Pablo, Rodrigo, etc) used by ChileTour were very friendly, and always on time. Great guys! Cannot forget to mention our guide Jose when we trekked to the towers the first day. Though you really don't need a guide, we were so grateful to have him with us. He was like the group cheerleader... always with a huge smile. He was constantly running between the first in the group and the last. He probably did double the distance the rest of us did. He was very knowledgable and was always up for being a cameraman or answering the many questions we had. The only negative really was that on our last day, we were supposed to hike back to a previous camp, wait for our catamaran shuttle, and then take the last bus back to Puerto Natales. It would have been a tortuous day. My savvy travel buddy booked us (and the others on our tour) a ride back with the catamaran that sailed out of Refugio Grey. At our cost, of course. We then connected with a driver we had earlier in the trip to pick us up and bring us back to Puerto Natales. Again at our cost, but very reasonably priced. I wish that the catamaran we actually took was offered up in the beginning. We would have gladly paid the extra cost. When Ricci realized what we did, he refunded us the cost of the catamaran we were supposed to have taken (we gave him back the tickets). And for that type of service, 5 stars was the only choice. Please do not hesitate to book with ChileTour. We had an...

Chile Tour Patagonia is incredibly disorganized. The tour I went on was a mess for the group I was with. For reference we were three groups (2 groups of three people and a couple). Every day and night there was an issue. Vegans had absolutely ZERO food options, non-vegans were given cheese and brisket sandwiches for two days straight. This is not the premium or luxury experience no matter which option you choose. The owner, Richy, has also not been forthcoming about what exactly the fee goes towards because clearly it is not food, or even accommodations for that matter as my group of three people had to share a cabin with the couple in our tour group - unbeknownst to all of us until we were literally stranded there and the tour guides and bus driver left without giving any direction. ADDITIONALLY, two of the nights that we were supposed to have sleeping bags, the owner made the decision to not send them to my group because it would be "easier" for us. He didn't even tell us he wasn't going to send them, and I'm 100% certain he just forgot to send them and was trying to cover his ass. I have followed up with Richy multiple times to receive an itemized receipt of the where the money we pay goes to and he has blatantly ignored it.

Absolutely DO NOT recommend.

Night 1 - You dine at the owners restaurant, El Brisket. The pre-set menu is limited, food is incredibly salty, and you get 1 drink included. Night 2 - Cabins, good luck because you'll probably be sharing close living quarters with strangers, you'll have no coffee or WATER because those weren't stocked in advance of your arrival (speaking from my experience). Also the sink water is not potable, so after hiking for 15 miles to the base of the towers, you have to suffer - sorry. Night 3 - Food at the refugios is significantly better than what is provided by the tour company. They do rent out sleeping bags, thank god. Half of my group received welcome drinks as part of their package, mine half did not - with no explanation as to why. And the couple in my group also didn't get lunch reserved for them the next day either -- make sure you pack extra food because you can't trust the tour group to have secured that for you. Night 4 - Similar to night 3 but you'll need to rent a sleeping mat at Paine Grande refugio because the tents are on wooden pallets. Very uncomfortable without the mat.

Will never go anywhere with this tour group and will never recommend. However, I love Patagonia, I loved the park and I will definitely return - just NOT...

We had a great experience with ChileTour Patagonia. They custom-designed an experience for us to hike the W with kids (we added a night at Refugio Chileno to shorten the first day of hiking to the towers and an extra night at camping Frances so that we could do the entire French Valley as day hike, without also needing to hike between refugios). The Garden Domes were lovely, and the welcome and farewell dinner were amazing - we were lucky to be there for Christmas and New Years; best food we had in Chile. Gonzalo and Ricci were endlessly patient and helpful.

Advice: 1) be prepared for long days; if you want to hike at a relaxed pace (with or without kids) you will go a lot more slowly than the estimated daily hike times; we were very glad of our extra nights which enabled us to see everything including the spectacular Britanico lookout in the French Valley; highlight of the trek and often missed. 2) Review the Chile Tours cancellation policy and try to buy travel insurance with full refund coverage for cancellation as soon as you book the hike. 3) Consider asking Chile Tours to provide confirmations for accommodation bookings and meals (not just confirmation numbers as those will not prove to refugio staff whether or not something was correctly booked). Consider having one person per group purchase internet access from refugios for the full tour, to facilitate communication with Chile Tours in case of any questions or issues. 4) Consider using a porter to lighten your load (the porters were amazing and they could even carry food for you if you have dietary requirements beyond what refugios can cater for); they are independent contractors so make sure that Chile Tours weighs your load to confirm it is within the limit so that there can be no questions later about weight carried by the porter - also keep all your items for the porter in a labeled bag so there can be no confusion when the porters receive, pack, and deliver your gear (Chile Tours could also consider providing labeled dry bags).

All issues related to the advice above were resolved by Gonzalo and Ricci so we were thrilled with our experience. Our kids want to return...