The Singular Hotel

Patagonia, Chile

Ease tired urban eyes in Patagonia at a former lamb-processing plant turned luxury hotel whose far-reaching views vie for guests’ attention with a superb roll call of dining, activity and leisure option.

Creating a far more luxurious end-of-the-earth base camp than the uninitiated would believe possible, The Singular Patagonia perches on the edge of the Last Hope Sound in Puerto Natales, gateway to one of the world’s most extraordinary national parks, Torres del Paine. Part hotel, part museum, the former lamb-processing plant – a red-brick and glass low-rise behemoth softened by a necklace of wooden decking on the waterfront
– marries the characteristic cool of the Chilean luxury hotel group with a swashbuckling sense of adventure inspired by its wilderness setting.

The hotel’s 57 rooms and suites are designed in earthy shades of terracotta cut through with glimmers of copper – if packing light is not your forte, the 70sq m suites are recommended for their extra space, as well as for the hypnotic views they offer of the Fjord of Last Hope Sound, which has the effect of making your fancy TV completely redundant. You’ll find 500-thread-count Egyptian cotton sheets on the king-size bed and a vast marble bathroom which invites lingering in – ideally deep in a long, hot bath after a day spent exploring.

Dining is also something to be lingered over. Flagship The Singular Restaurant pays homage to the mountain ridges of Seno Última Esperanza, with award-winning cuisine from executive chef Hernán Basso. Expect dishes that marry French technique with quality native ingredients such as guanaco (similar to llama), king crab, austral hake and, of course, cordero – the signature lamb shoulder served with potatoes and morel mushrooms is the stuff of local legend. Alternatively, kick back in El Asador over a dizzying selection of cuts of meat and local fish and traditional Chilean specialities in the rustic surrounds of the property’s 100-year-old former blacksmith’s forge.

A seasonally changing line-up of tours takes in such once-in-a-lifetime sights as the Milodon Caves, Sophia Lake, Dorotea Hill, Torres del Paine National Park and Puerto Natales town, where guests can spend time with locals and enrich their cultural understanding of wild Patagonia.

Later, ease tired limbs in the hotel’s opulent spa, or take a dip in the pool, where floor-to-ceiling windows bring the outdoors in (but without the need for any bulky parka, boots or ear muffs). Win-win.

Doubles from £528. 00 56 2 2306 8810, thesingular.com

Words by Julie Alpine.

This review was taken from the January/February 2021 issue of Food and Travel.

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