Welcome to Torres del Paine in Patagonia

January 8, 2017

Dear Charles

A note to say what a great holiday we are having and to give you some feedback which may be useful to you. I am writing this as we go to the airport post our trek and prior to the Santa Cruz visit while things from the trek are fresh in my mind. 

Park Plaza. As expected, we liked it, and it was familiar and friendly. Our bags did not make it onto our flight and they were helpful and rang Joanna as soon as they came which was appreciated. They arrived 1 day late – thanks Iberia!  We had anticipated this so had all our trekking kit with us just in case!  

The trekking was just terrific. We were blessed with glorious weather almost all the time and had just one wet morning which at least meant we got to use all the waterproof kit we were lugging around. What fabulous scenery, truly memorable and a great family experience. 

We spoke to one Australian trio who had elected not to use you (fools!) and their logistic travails made me understand how effective your operation is. Congratulations to you – it’s appreciated. 

AltiPlanico. Fantastic hotel and lovely staff. Expensive but fantastic Christmas Eve dinner. A nice celebration. Heated bathroom floors a delight especially on our return. Baggage all put in our rooms and laundry brought to us on return. This place is really tuned in to its punters. 

Catamaran. Worked well though we only worked out just in time that we had to pay at the desk that looked like a bar before a massive queue to pay formed as it neared the dock. 

Refugio Grey. We really enjoyed this place. The bar was nice if crowded, good food and comfortable beds. Lights and charging sockets in all rooms. Perfect. 

Bigfoot. Curiously they did not have our kayaking booking but it was too windy anyway. So they said forget that and come ice hiking instead. They only took the incremental money from us and said they’d sort the rest out – nice touch. The ice hiking was wonderful and was a highlight. Took 5 hours so we did not leave until 4pm for our next stop so it was a long, but well worthwhile, day. 

Refugio Paine Grande. Though large we liked this very much and though we only arrived there at almost 8pm everything was perfectly organised. We had our own room which was very nice and comfortable with everything we needed. 

Domos Frances. This was a lovely quirky place. The dome was comfortable with a reading light by each bed which was very nice. The eating area was small and very hot but very pleasant. We had expected liners for the sleeping bags but these were not available even to hire. Would suggest that you highlight this to all guests as the bags are clearly not cleaned or even aired daily. 

Refugio Chileno. We had the best dinner here, though breakfast was mean. It is a rather crammed operation with 2 sittings of breakfast and dinner leaving you relegated to your room for too much time. The liner for sleeping bag comment applies again. They do need to think customer a little more and provide reading lights as all other places seemed to have managed it – and also have something of a lounge area if they insist on having multiple meal sittings which is obviously a nice cash machine for them. They also tried to impose silence and promptly made lots of noise themselves. A challenging location in which to operate, I know, but we felt a mite exploited. 

We ended up hiring towels every night, though we had expected some Refugios  to provide. If we had understood this we would have brought our own which would have been easier as well. 

All transfers so far have been absolutely on the button with drivers introducing themselves and shaking hands. That’s really engaging and nice practise

Now finishing this off back home.  

We had an easy transfer from the south and on to Santa Cruz. We really liked the hotel, lovely interesting place, and that museum was just fantastic. Thank you for mentioning that – we would never have found it without your prompt even though it is so near. The wine tour and lunch at Lapostolle must be one of life’s best lunches ever. What a location, lovely people, interesting tour and fantastic wines. On New Years Eve we had room service which was quite fun as we got to see the spectacular fireworks and then fell into bed after a full days eating and drinking. 

Transfer to Zapallar took just 4 hours which was a nice bonus and our driver gave a guided tour as we went of the interesting things.  And the Isla Seca hotel – what a place. We just loved it and spent lots of time by the pool and walking down to the beach and the restaurants there.  We were well looked after though did not get to check into our room until about 6 which seemed strange but a very nice ocean view room in the main hotel for us and a decent triple room for the girls in the extension. 

Trip back to the airport was smooth and easy with a running commentary (!) and our BA flight, the inaugural Santiago to London flight, was great and we were all upgraded to premium economy and then Jill and I were moved to business as our screens did not work.   All the family like BA!  Very sad to leave Joanna at the airport but she is enjoying Chile and hope her next 6 months go smoothly. 

All in all one of the best holidays we have ever had, if not the best, so thank you for putting together such an enjoyable itinerary for us.

With best wishes for the new year.  

Joe

May 24th, 2018

We are so sorry we missed each other. We both wanted to give you a very small token of our appreciation of how wonderful your assistance to us has been. Thus the chocolates.

We returned to the hotel at 8:15pm to find your amazing gift of the bottle of wine, thank you!

Our 60th birthday trip has been so amazing because of your fantastic help. We both turned 60 years old in 2018 so we wanted to celebrate by proving to ourselves we were still fit enough to do this kind of trip. Your help made this easy, so THANK YOU!!!!!!

We will for sure write very good reviews on all of your social media sites. Please tell Charles we loved working with you. Your country is so much more than we ever imagined.

We met a couple, Dan and Kathy, who were at Cuernos at the same day as we were. They booked through you too. They said a lot of nice things about you and Charles as well.

You have a beautiful city!!!

Thank you!!!!

Randy and E