A 57-room Leading Hotels of the World property opened 2011 inside the 1915 Puerto Bories meat-processing plant, Chile's largest industrial heritage restoration, a National Monument since 1996, on the shore of the Última Esperanza sound seven minutes north of Puerto Natales.
"The only Patagonian hotel with a soul that pre-dates the hotel: a 1915 cold-storage plant turned into 57 rooms, with the original riveted-steel boiler in the lobby, an on-site industrial-heritage museum, and a long room overlooking the sound that reads like a converted Tate factory."
The Singular Patagonia opened on 1 October 2011 in the restored 1915 Frigorífico Bories, once the largest meat-processing plant in southern Patagonia, the engine of Puerto Bories' founding, and from 1971 a slowly decaying ruin on the shore of the Última Esperanza sound. The plant was declared a Chilean National Monument in 1996; entrepreneur Eduardo Vassallo and architect Pedro Kovacic spent six years restoring the original red-painted corrugated-iron sheds, the riveted-steel boilers, the timber drying-room, and the long industrial pier, converting the ensemble into a 57-room hotel without losing the building's industrial-heritage character. The result is one of the more architecturally serious heritage hotel restorations in Latin America.
The 57 guest rooms, designed by Enrique Concha and Pedro Kovacic, sit in a new wing that extends from the original plant building along the shore, every room oriented west across the Última Esperanza sound with six-yard-wide floor-to-ceiling windows. The rooms run 38, 48 square metres, with deliberately industrial-vocabulary interiors: weathered Chilean cypress flooring, exposed steel beams, Magellanic wool throws, a separate executive desk, and a bathroom with both bathtub and rain shower. The corner Suites and the headline Singular Suite (90 sqm) occupy the original plant's brick boiler-house, with double-height ceilings, retained boiler-fitting marks on the walls, and the most architecturally distinctive room in southern Chile.
The on-site dining occupies the original plant's slaughter floor and drying room, chef Laurent Pasqualetto's restaurant runs a Patagonian-Mediterranean menu anchored on the surrounding Estancia Cerro Castillo lamb, the merluza austral landed daily at Puerto Natales, the King Crab from the Magellan strait, and Chilean produce from the lodge's contracted growers. The Aysén Bar in the original boiler hall holds the most architecturally serious cocktail counter in Patagonia. The Pisé spa runs a heated indoor pool, sauna, steam, and four treatment rooms, the most considered spa of any Patagonian hotel outside the Torres del Paine luxury-lodge group.
Excursions are à la carte rather than all-inclusive, the property maintains a guide team and runs day trips into Torres del Paine (90 minutes by 4x4), the Balmaceda and Serrano glaciers (a half-day boat from the property pier), and the eastern Magellanic estancia circuit. The on-site Industrial Heritage Museum is a working part of the hotel, open to day visitors as well as guests. For travellers who want the Patagonia trip with industrial-heritage soul, urban Puerto Natales convenience (seven minutes by car), and a flexible day-by-day excursion calendar, rather than the fixed all-inclusive package of the Torres del Paine luxury lodges, The Singular Patagonia is the only available answer at the rate point.
For anniversaries that want Patagonia with character rather than steppe isolation, the Singular Suite in the original boiler-house is the booking, with double-height ceilings, the retained boiler-fitting marks, and a sound-facing window that runs the full length of the room. The Aysén Bar at sunset and the restaurant at dinner make a stay here read as a quiet industrial-heritage hotel experience rather than a Patagonia adventure trip.
For solo Patagonia travel the Singular is the strongest booking at the rate point, flexible à-la-carte excursions (no fixed group dynamic), single-occupancy rates that the Torres del Paine lodges do not publish, a serious on-site spa, and the Aysén Bar's solo-friendly counter. The proximity to Puerto Natales for a day off-property gives the trip optional structure that the isolated lodges cannot offer.
For the rare Patagonia business stay, an estancia investor visit, a Magellanic conservation conference, a film production scouting trip, the Singular is the only working business booking in the region. Reliable WiFi, a private meeting room in the original drying hall, executive desks in every room, and seven minutes by car from Puerto Natales airport and town.
Km. 5.5 Norte, Puerto Bories
Puerto Natales
Magallanes Region, Chile
Puerto Natales Airport 15 minutes; Puerto Natales town 7 minutes; Torres del Paine NP 90 minutes by 4x4
57 rooms (incl. corner Suites and Singular Suite)
Sound-View Rooms from USD 750/night
Corner Suites from USD 1,400/night
Singular Suite from USD 2,800/night
Check-in: 3:00 PM
Check-out: 12:00 PM
Opened 2011 inside the 1915 Frigorífico Bories; Leading Hotels of the World since 2012
National Monument heritage building
On-site Industrial Heritage Museum
Pisé Spa (indoor pool, sauna, steam)
Aysén Bar and Restaurant
À-la-carte excursion programme
Reliable WiFi and meeting room
Open year-round (no winter closure)
From USD 750/night. The Singular Suite books four to five months ahead for January and February; the property remains open year-round (the only Torres del Paine-area hotel that does), and June, September is a structurally interesting value period with restricted excursions but reliable rates.
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