Emerging Destinations Team Visits Torres del Paine

Here are some things we learned about the area and Hotel Las Torres:

• The average North American (not in a rushed group tour) is spending 4-6 nights at the national park (or longer). And location is everything. Based at the foot of the famous stone towers, the lodge reminds me of some of the properties in our U.S. National Parks. The park was actually built around the property, a private estancia of 4,400 hectares (17 square miles).  And half of the park’s legendary “W” hiking trail crosses terrain belonging to the estancia.
• The lodge is super laidback and really makes an effort to deliver a true Patagonian experience.  The bar staff made it fun every night, the perfect place to kick back and have a beer after a day in the saddle or on the trail.
• Las Torres boasts the only stables inside of the park — more than 250 horses, horseback riding activities exclusive to our guests and real gauchos!
• It’s all about the Kusanovic family.  The hotel started in 1979 as a casual offshoot of the working ranch because so many visitors to Torres del Paine were asking the family where they could spend the night. Rather than turn them away, the Kusanovic clan began renting spare rooms, the start of a long evolution into a proper hotel. It was only three years ago that the family hired hospitality professionals to manage the property.  But you can still see family members around the property, running the stables and nonprofit AMA organization, and working to make the estancia into a conservancy to protect Torres del Paine for future generations. 
• Ask some of the staff to show you their photos of pumas – it’s not at all unusual for them to have photos of the big cats on their cell phones!

www.lastorres.com