This will be quite a comprehensive review, as I opted for the 3 night all-inclusive package at Las Torres Hotel in Torres Del Paine National Park. I paid $US900 per night. For that price (which is more than an overwater bungalow in Bora Bora), there are a certain number of expectations. What your money really buys here are the long transfers from El Calafate or Punta Arenas, the (splendid) selection of tours they offer as part of the deal and alcohol. If you’re expecting a flash room with all the bells and whistles or a restaurant that’s actually open for dinner or taking your bags to your room when you arrive, well that’s where you’re going to miss out. I travelled towards the end of the season in April. I will preface the transfer from El Calafate by saying the driver must do this every day but your scariest amusement park thrill ride doesn’t compare to this trip. Starting in the dark and travelling at light speed with dim headlights gets your pulse racing. Come up behind a bus, that’s OK, we’ll just overtake it around a blind corner. A bit of a windy road, time to text the boss. Music not quite right, let’s fiddle with Spotify. Fortunately, daylight brought some relief. And he was very polite throughout and helpful at the border. Arrived in one piece at the hotel. It wasn’t full. Half the rooms face the mountain and half the rooms face a grassy field. Why everyone didn’t get a mountain view is beyond me. I didn’t. I’m sure I could have asked for my suitcase to be taken to my room, but it shouldn’t be necessary. So I had to haul it upstairs myself. The room is spacious enough but very basic. No TV but very good internet connectivity. Nice big bed, a desk, decent pillows. No fridge. The room heating works well. They give you a welcome bottle of wine and a platter of sweets but not a bottle of water. The bathroom has a bathtub only suitable for small folk and no taps. The shower is part of the bath, so if you want to soak (a bit at a time), you have to use the shower to fill the tub. Now I quickly noticed that my shower head was broken. I told them the following morning and they did replace it. But that shouldn’t have been necessary. These things should be checked beforehand. My new showerhead worked but then there’s the water saver. When will hotels realise that reducing the water pressure doubles the time to have a shower? I timed it. 10 minutes to brush my teeth and wash my hair. And I’m a guy with short hair. We were told repeatedly that the park has the third largest reservoir of fresh water behind Antarctica and Greenland. So unless they are trying to make it into first place, why bother trying to save water? A good variety of food is available in the bar area from mid-morning. The included breakfast is served in the separate restaurant, which involves walking outside. This is the same for the gap between the 2 hotel buildings. I’m not sure why these aren’t covered as in the rain, it would be quite miserable. The breakfast selection is ex
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