Long and narrow, Chile fits desert, lakes, volcanoes and glaciers into one country, so where you stay will depend on what you've come to see. Hikers will want to be in Torres del Paine, beneath the park's famous granite towers, while honeymooners tend to favour the Atacama Desert and its bone-dry salt flats. Families settle happily into the Chilean Lake District, all blue lakes and snow-capped volcanoes. Returning visitors follow the Carretera Austral, Patagonia's remote southern highway, to kayak through the Marble Caves or raft the Baker River. Santiago, the capital, is worth a couple of days at either end, not least for its very good seafood. With 231 properties across Chile, prices range from USD 90 to USD 1,700 per person per night. We have a soft spot for La Yegua Loca in Punta Arenas. On the island of Chiloé, Refugia Chiloe is close to the trails of Chiloé National Park and the penguin colonies of the Islotes de Puñihuil.

Puerto Natales

Puerto Natales

Puerto Natales

Puerto Natales

Puerto Natales

Puerto Natales

Puerto Natales

Puerto Natales

Puerto Natales

Puerto Natales

Puerto Natales

Puerto Natales

Puerto Natales

Puerto Natales

Antofagasta

Los Ríos
Valdivia often gets overlooked in favour of Patagonia's more famous landscapes, but this corner of Chile's Los Ríos Region has a quiet magic all its own. Set on ten hectares of Isla Teja, right on the banks of the Río Cruces wetlands and neighbouring the Carlos Anwandter Nature Sanctuary, this recently renovated hotel offers something genuinely rare: luxury accommodation with direct access to one of South America's most important bird habitats. From the private dock, you can kayak or SUP through channels where black-necked swans, wild ducks, and countless migratory species go about their business largely unbothered by the outside world. The Valdivian Temperate Rainforest surrounding the property is one of only 34 global biodiversity hotspots – a rather grand claim, but one that becomes immediately believable when you start exploring the ancient trees and lush greenery of the hotel's own grounds.

Los Lagos

Arica

Los Perros

Dickson Valley

La Serena
Namibrand, Namibia