Las Bayas

Las Bayas has a homely atmosphere, from the rustic style of the rooms to the friendliness of the staff; they will happily help you to arrange excursions to Los Alerces National Park and beyond, or sort out a rental car for you if you’d prefer to go at your own pace.

Las Bayas is home to just ten guest rooms, which have a rustic, traditional style while promising modern standards of comfort and luxury. The beds, tables and chairs are carved from local pine, while ceilings feature exposed beams and wooden panels. Rooms follow a tasteful colour scheme of greys, creams and browns, and the walls are adorned with artworks representing local wildlife.

In classic Patagonian style, the food on offer at Las Bayas is traditional, simple, locally sourced, and served in hearty portions – perfect for refuelling after a day in the great outdoors. Expect to find regional produce and locally caught ingredients such as rainbow trout, capon rooster, and mountain vegetables; dinner can be enjoyed in the garden, to complete the sense of immersion in the local environment.

There’s no spa at the hotel, but a range of hydromassage treatments are on offer in the privacy of your own room – perfect for soothing those aching muscles after a day’s outdoor adventures. The hotel also has a cosy library, where you can curl up with a good book on those chilly evenings.

The town of Esquel is surrounded by natural beauty, with the mountain of La Hoya home to a renowned ski resort. The town’s narrow-gauge railway, made famous by travel writer Paul Theroux in ­The Old Patagonian Express, is said to be the southernmost railway in the world and is worth a visit for lovers of heritage train travel. A range of excursions are on offer at the hotel to the nearby Los Alerces National Park, an area of great natural beauty spanning rainforest, lakes and steppe; many of the huge alerce trees which give the park its name are over 3,000 years old.