Hotel Boutique La Yegua Loca

The restaurant at the hotel is the best in Puerto Natales, though a bit pricey, and has a great range of well-prepared dishes, including interesting choices at the included breakfast. The hotel is artistic and quirky, with friendly, helpful staff, distinctive rooms and nice views, close enough to the city center but not right in it. Our first room was small and didn’t have much sitting space, and the wood floors creaked, but we got used to that quickly. When we asked, they were accommodating and moved us to a larger suite on a lower floor with a bigger sitting area.

The people made this feel more like being welcomed into someone’s home than staying at a hotel. Everyone I met was kind and went out of their way to help. La Yegua Loca is a beautiful, comfortable tribute to Patagonia’s ranching past, with handcrafted furniture, creative lighting and rustic details that bring out the spirit of Magallanes. The included breakfast was generous and delicious, and both lunch and dinner at the exceptional restaurant were beautifully prepared, creative and full of authentic flavor. It’s a special place, and I’d return without hesitation or recommend it to anyone visiting Punta Arenas.

The checkout was an extremely stressful mess. We tried three cards, one debit and two credit, but their terminal wasn’t working. All had enough funds, and we’d had no trouble paying anywhere on our Chile trip. We had a flight to catch, and it took them a while to process the payment. I was already in the Uber when a staff member ran after me to say they’d charged me in pesos instead of dollars, so I had to go back and pay again. That felt extremely unprofessional. The room was dirty, as shown in the pictures. The decor and view are nice, but the hotel isn’t worth it and the service and hygiene standards are very poor.

Delicious food, all of it. Nice service, a lovely view and wines. There’s a hotel in the complex, plus cocktails and desserts.