Best of the Trans-Americas Journey 2020 – Best Hotels in Argentina & Chile
Best hip and historic hotel: Not many hotels offer guests a one-hour guided history tour that’s legitimately fascinating. Then again, not many hotels have the history of The Singular Patagonia where a large part of the personality of the hotel lies in its past. Located in Puerto Bories, just outside the town of Puerto Natales in Chile, the complex opened in 1915 as an abattoir and cold storage facility that became one of the main suppliers of lamb to Europe, processing up to 250,000 sheep per year. As you walk through original brick buildings and past machinery still in place, guides explain how the work that was done here was a vital part of the massive network of sheep farms that were the financial backbone of the first non-indigenous inhabitants who arrived in Patagonia and Tierra del Fuego from Europe in the 19th century. The property was named a National Historic Monument in 1996 and the modern portions of the hotel, where rooms are located, were skillfully and carefully integrated. The result is warehouse chic on a massive scale. Huge pieces of Victorian machinery gleam like hulking industrial art inside even larger spaces and utilitarian materials are cleverly folded into the polished design. For more reasons to book a room, read our full review of The Singular Patagonia for Luxury Latin America.
