After flying down over the end of the Andes, driving four hours along the scenic Carretera Austral, taking a boat across a deserted fjord, you will reach a natural paradise like a few are, full of contrasts and imposing vegetation. It is so far away from civilization that its architecture and strategic location on the edge of the sea make it a wonder.
Travelers come to Puyuhuapi Lodge & Spa to experience the unimaginable solitude of the remote Patagonia wilderness. You are surrounded by an area which is interwoven with glaciers, fjords, rivers and channels. Their spa also echos the natural area around it by incorporating volcanic hot springs and you can also be pampered at the spa fed by 3 pure waters, healing hot springs, snow-melt water and sea salty water.
Despite its extreme remote location, the lodge offers all that you’d expect from a small luxury hotel.
The Puyuhuapi Lodge & Spa is located 209 km south of Chaitén, 215 kilometers north of Coyhaique, on the edge of Dorita Bay and approximately 30 minutes by boat to the town of Puyuhuapi. It is only possible to arrive by sea, crossing the Puyuhuapi channel with a journey of around 10 minutes, as there is no land access.
Puyuhuapi, an indigenous term that refers to the “place of puye fish” is surrounded by three waters: saltwater from the sea, freshwater from the mountains, and hot thermal waters with great therapeutic qualities, strong levels of mineralization and temperatures reaching 85ºC. Subterranean outcrops emerge from the Melimoyu volcano, which has a height of 2440 meters, is active, and is located south of the mouth of the river Palena in front of Melinka Island.
It was businessman Eberhard Kossmann, president of the shipyard Astilleros Asenav in Valdivia who, captured by the magic of Bahía Dorita, wanted to create a place that would combine modernity and comfort within the wildness of Chilean Patagonia. In 1986, sailing together with his family through the fjords from Puerto Montt towards the south, Eberhard passed through for the first time, finding it an ideal harbor in which to anchor and stock up with supplies of fresh water. At this time, there was only one modest lodging house that received very few visitors, which had been built by pioneer Ernesto Hein from Coyhaique. In this era, the lodging house was property of a creditor bank, from which it had been handed over to some Canadian businessmen who attracted North American tourists to go fly-fishing in the mountain lakes, travelling only by seaplane.
The business visionary was struck by the beauty of the place, where the Termas de Puyuhuapi (Puyuhuapi Hot Springs) were located, for its magnetism and its protected bay. Three years later, on a subsequent journey, he was unexpectedly presented with an offer to buy the property. The extraordinary geographic location of Bahía Dorita seduced him: protected, in a beautiful southern fjord, with an awesome view of the mountain range and virgin forest of Chilean Patagonia, and what’s more enriched by the presence of thermal springs. Without any previous experience in the area of tourism, he was far from daunted by the isolation, the climate and the building complexities, and instead considered that these conditions constituted a personal challenge that he would duly take on with the project of the lodging house.
That is how he saw Puyuhuapi Lodge & Spa; as a cozy and quality ecolodge that allows you to enjoy the thermal open air pools as well as another covered pool at sea level. It started with the premise that nothing of this sort existed in the rest of the world and that the isolation of this southern region represented a unique opportunity for disconnection from urban routine, and a connection with nature in its original state.
The ecolodge’s cozy superior rooms have a living space and balcony that face the bay and have central heating, safe, hairdryer, telephone, and hot, thermal water in the bathroom.
Address:
Puyuhuapi, Regiyn XI, Aisen, Chile
Phone:+56 2 225 6489
Renee Blodgett is the founder of We Blog the World. The site combines the magic of an online culture and travel magazine with a global blog network and has contributors from every continent in the world. Having lived in 10 countries and explored nearly 80, she is an avid traveler, and a lover, observer and participant in cultural diversity.
She is also the CEO and founder of Magic Sauce Media, a new media services consultancy focused on viral marketing, social media, branding, events and PR. For over 20 years, she has helped companies from 12 countries get traction in the market. Known for her global and organic approach to product and corporate launches, Renee practices what she pitches and as an active user of social media, she helps clients navigate digital waters from around the world. Renee has been blogging for over 16 years and regularly writes on her personal blog Down the Avenue, Huffington Post, BlogHer, We Blog the World and other sites. She was ranked #12 Social Media Influencer by Forbes Magazine and is listed as a new media influencer and game changer on various sites and books on the new media revolution. In 2013, she was listed as the 6th most influential woman in social media by Forbes Magazine on a Top 20 List.
Her passion for art, storytelling and photography led to the launch of Magic Sauce Photography, which is a visual extension of her writing, the result of which has led to producing six photo books: Galapagos Islands, London, South Africa, Rome, Urbanization and Ecuador.
Renee is also the co-founder of Traveling Geeks, an initiative that brings entrepreneurs, thought leaders, bloggers, creators, curators and influencers to other countries to share and learn from peers, governments, corporations, and the general public in order to educate, share, evaluate, and promote innovative technologies.
