Hotel Puerta del Sur

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.