The most iconic hike in Torres del Paine, Chile is without a doubt Mirador Las Torres (the Base Towers). These jagged mountain peaks rise up above brilliantly blue water, creating a viewpoint that’s worth hiking eight hours for. This is one of the harder and longer hikes in Torres del Paine National Park, and so it’s worth it to pay a premium and stay at the closest hotel to the start of the trail, which is Hotel Las Torres. However, the location is really the only good thing about this hotel, in my opinion. Read our honest review of Hotel Las Torres Patagonia here.
Location
Hotel Las Torres is located at literally the start of the trail for the Base Towers Hike. The expense of staying at Hotel Las Torres is worth it just for this location, for two reasons:
- It cuts a bit of time off of your hike. If you’re not staying here, you have to park at the Visitor’s Center which adds a little over 1km each way.
- The road to the Visitor’s Center is shut off by gates, which don’t open until 8:30 am. If you’re staying at Hotel Las Torres, you’ll already be inside the park and can start your hike early, getting to the viewpoint without all the crowds. I recommend starting the hike at sunrise.
Pros
- The best location in Torres del Paine National Park for the Base Towers hike
- Other walking trails are located right outside the door
- Beautiful views
- Pretty and comfortable common areas
Cons
- Have to go outside of the building to get to and from most rooms and the dining room which is inconvenient when it’s raining or cold.
- No nearby restaurants, so you are stuck eating on-property and the food is mediocre and monotonous
- Asked to tip 10% on every transaction (food, drink)
- Very basic rooms that needed upkeep
- Terrible pre-trip communication for planning excursions and booking airport transfers
- Have to buy a half-board option (which includes breakfast and dinner) or an all-inclusive package
- Expensive
Rooms
There are two room types available at Hotel Las Torres: Junior Suites and Superior Rooms. We stayed in a Superior Room, which had a double bed (that was small for two people). Our room was very basic. When we checked in, our room was freezing, and we discovered the radiator was broken, so we didn’t have heat. The hotel sent someone to fix it, but it never got super warm, and they refused to move us to a new room. The toilet in our room also leaked all over the floor and never got fixed.
The bathroom had a very narrow shower, along with a non-adjustable shower head that only pointed at the wall, which made bathing awkward. Our room had a “Patagonian pampa” view, which overlooked the trail to Mirador Las Torres, which meant people were walking right by our window all the time.
I would recommend upgrading to a Junior Suite, but you’ll need to reserve early. We booked about six months in advance and they were already full. Junior Suites are larger than the Superior Rooms and have a king-sized bed and a view of the Paine Massif.
Food and Drink
Since Hotel Las Torres is in such a remote location in Patagonia, you are really stuck with eating at the hotel. There aren’t any cooking facilities at the hotel, so it would be tough to make your own food. There are two restaurants at the hotel: Coirón Restaurant and a more casual lounge off of the lobby.
Coirón Restaurant serves a breakfast buffet in the mornings that is very limited. There was an omlette-making station in another room from the breakfast buffet (a side room that’s easily missed) which was decent, but the buffet was surprisingly small. Coirón is also open for dinner, serving three-course meals. The menu doesn’t change from night to night, and we found the food to be mediocre overall. The service was also incredibly slow, which is frustrating when you’ve hiked all day and want to get a good night’s sleep before the next morning’s early start. We spent over two hours waiting for dinner one night.
The lounge was also slow, but not as bad as the restaurant, and was nice for a change of pace. The cheese plates and salads (made from an on-site greenhouse) were the only items I can actually recommend here. They do have a nice bar, with a craft cocktail program and beers made in-house.
Overall, Hotel Las Torres is terrible with food allergies. I have a very serious allergy and emailed the hotel before the trip to make sure they could safely accommodate. They assured me they could, so I didn’t bring too much back-up food. When I arrived, I even spoke with the chef about my allergies, but I was still served meals very clearly containing the allergen. I was also given prepackaged items clearly marked with the allergen for packed lunches. The restaurants were very inflexible about making any changes to the menu to accommodate allergies.
Additionally, every time you order food or drinks, you’ll be asked to select “yes” or “no” for a tip. If you select “yes” it charges 10% to your bill, and the hotel only accepts this payment in cash (in US Dollars) when you check out. You cannot put this on your card, so just be aware.
Service
I definitely expected better service at a hotel this expensive. We had arranged and confirmed an airport transfer (which is included in the all-inclusive package) before departing. Unfortunately, when we arrived at the airport, no one from the hotel was there. When we tried calling the hotel, no one answered the phone. We tried reaching Las Torres by WhatsApp and email, and even had a kind airport employee let us use their cell phone so that we could call the hotel from a local number, but they never picked up the phone.
After waiting for two hours, one of the drivers from another resort was able to reach his friend at Las Torres, who sent someone to pick us up. No one from the hotel even bothered to apologize to us, even after we told the manager what had happened.
Our return transfer to the airport was also an issue. We tried to confirm the return transfer on our first day (due to the previous issue) and they wouldn’t confirm until the night before, when they told us it was booked for the wrong time. The hotel couldn’t reach any of the drivers to change it, so we had to go to the airport earlier than we wanted.
In general, the hotel did not do a good job with pre-trip communication. They would simply stop responding to emails midway through a conversation. We talked with other guests who had similar issues when trying to pre-book excursions and then arrived to no record of their bookings.
Cost
We booked the 3-day/2-night all-inclusive package which cost $4,660 for two people total traveling during high season.
Hotel Las Torres Cost
| TIme of Year | All-Inclusive Cost (Per Person based on 2 People Sharing). Cost is for the 3 days/two nights package. |
| October and April | $2,160 |
| November to March | $2,330 |
| December 22-January 3 | $2,570 |
Suite upgrades cost an additional $220 per person per night.
The all-inclusive program includes:
- Open bar (not including premium beer, wine, or spirits)
- National park excursions
- All meals
- Airport transfers to and from Punta Arenas, Puerto Natales, or Calafate.
Half-board packages, which only include breakfast and dinner (and not activities) cost $680 per person in the low season and $820 per person in the high season.
Click here to see current prices and book Hotel Las Torres.
Excursions
Excursions are included in the all-inclusive price, but you really don’t need a guide to do the Mirador Las Torres hike, and I think it would be a much nicer experience to do it solo rather than in a large group. The trail is very well-marked and easy to follow, and you don’t have to worry about transportation to/from the hike since the path starts right outside the hotel.
The Best Torres del Paine National Park Itinerary
Despite all of the issues we had with dining, our rooms, and airport pick-ups, I still do actually recommend booking two nights at Hotel Las Torres. The location inside the park is simply unbeatable, and being able to stay so close to the Base Towers trail is worth it.
I advise staying two nights at Hotel Las Torres so that you have a buffer for bad weather for the Base Towers Hike. On the day you don’t do the Base Towers, you can walk out the door of the hotel and do a solo walk to Mirador Lago Nordenskjold. This easy hike was one of my favorites of the whole trip, as it leads to a stunning multi-color lake. We didn’t see a single other person on this hike, which made for a magical experience.
After two nights at Hotel Las Torres, I recommend transferring to Rio Serrano, a hotel in Torres del Paine that I loved. (Read my full review of Rio Serrano Hotel here.) This hotel has much better food and service, plus an incredible heated pool overlooking the mountains. Splitting your stay into two parts also allows you to see two different areas of the park.
For a more detailed 7-day Torres del Paine itinerary, read my Ultimate Guide to Torres del Paine.
Travel Insurance for Torres del Paine
Torres Del Paine is really remote, and the terrain is rocky—if you were to slip on a trail or have an accident and need to be evacuated out to a hospital, the bills would be expensive. I recommend getting travel insurance through World Nomads before setting off on a hiking trip like this one.
More to Read
- We loved our stay at the Rio Serrano Hotel in Torres del Paine. Read our full review of Rio Serrano.
- For advice on where to stay and what to do in Patagonia, read our Ultimate Guide to Torres del Paine.
- Wondering if you should tip while you’re in Chile? Read our Ultimate Guide to Tipping in Chile.
- Looking for more inspiration on places to stay? Check out our guide to the Best Luxury Hotels in the World.
- Thinking about doing another bucket list hike? Read our 101 Tips for Climbing Kilimanjaro.