AKA Patagonia

My husband and I booked this hotel as the ending to our Torres del Paine hiking trip due to the fact that it had a private hot tub. We thought that would be the perfect ending to our trip. Once we arrived we got into the room, opened the back door (the blinds dropped onto my head), no hot tub. We called and the owner said they were very sorry but they did not have a room available with a hot tub. Despite that was what we paid for, and despite that was what our confirmation stated we had. We sat in the room for a minute, tried to close the back door, the blinds dropped on my head again. The room was unbearably hot due to the large windows. The hotel is located in the middle of nowhere. Which would have been fine if we would have had our hot tub to chill in. We decided to leave, the owner said he would refund us the difference. Once we got home, we found he had cancelled the room on his end (preventing us from leaving a review on hotels.com) and fully charged us. We have requested to be reimbursed multiple times through the company and he denies it. Besides the sour milk of losing the money I would avoid the place in general. The room was fine, but you can find much nicer accommodations, and be in town and not have to deal with this crooked owner for the same price.

I don’t quite understand why this place gets so much hate on here. Rooms were exactly like in the pictures, and we got our request for a twin bedroom accommodated smoothly. I found the position charming, surrounded by houses of locals and lots of dogs, felt very genuine and not scary at all (besides, one can clearly see where the accom is located so why complaining?). Wifi was the best we had throughout our stay in Patagonia, first time with safe and mini fridge in the room. Hot water with no issues is not taken for granted even in much more expensive places (and was provided here). Breakfast trays were not the tastiest of course but very convenient for early calls. The only flaw was communication before and after our stay, in particular the payment method was a bit stressful (you will need a credit, not debit card). We interacted with several staff members and they were all lovely. I would recommend (especially for those renting a car).

The only positive I can highlight is the relatively nicely furnished rooms. Other than that, this is an overpriced tourist stay. Starting with check-in would have been impossible without the cleaning lady we met accidentally when she was working there. No local support staff, reception, etc: since they send you the check-in info via Whatsapp to the phone no. you submitted along with your booking. I changed my SIM to a local one, so those would have never been delivered if I didn't meet with the cleaning lady. Concept of breakfast "prepare it own your own" seems smart for the first time, but not like this: cheap ingredients, small variety of choices. "You don't have to clean your used plates" is written above the sink rather funnily. Honestly, this is the last thing I would like to do on my holiday... Also the location is weird: the palce is not located in the town, but in the "slams" near Natales. They offered us a 50% discount of the last night since the lack of hot water during our last night and the morning of departure. Instead of delivering something positive, the original amount was charged on my credit card without sending a single invoice...

My wife and I absolutely loved this place! Big pluses are the very clean and modern rooms, and the hot tubs. We actually liked having the pre-prepared breakfast ready whenever we wanted it in the main building. The ability to make our own eggs the way we wanted them was much appreciated. As was the readily available hot water for coffee. It's true this place is not close to downtown, and there is no one on site if you have any problems. But the management was extremely responsive over WhatsApp, there's a convenience store right up the street, and the views of the mountains and the ocean more than made up for the minor inconvenience of having to order an Uber for us.

Firstly, note that the property is well outside the town. There is no restaurant, market or any shop around. You cannot even get Uber to this location. Absolutely no activities or trekking nearby! I originally made my booking at El Establo but they advised me midnight before my arrival date that they are ‘upgrading’ me to this AKA PATAGONIA. After seeing its location, which is literally in the middle of nowhere, I advised the property that I do not accept the relocation. They accepted my cancellation request and advised me that they would not charge me. However, they charged my credit card after 17 days without my consent and they are not replying to any of my messages or emails. I had to start official dispute with my credit card company and reported the incident to the police. These people are scammers, stay away!!!

Located in the outskirts of the city in an area that looks kind of sketchy. My driver who was born and raised in Puerto Natales hadn’t been to this area. WhatsApp isn’t monitored and it took calling to get them to answer my WhatsApp. I arrived and the back door wasn’t locked and I felt uncomfortable. Also if you can’t get a taxi to town then you’re in real trouble as it will take a long walk (1 hour plus) to get to the bus station. Don’t stay here!! It will ruin your vacation. Book a hotel in the city.

I am so happy I didn’t listen to the negative reviews here (which in my opinion are overly harsh and critical) on Google. We had the best time staying at AKA and felt we were getting a luxury stay at a discount. The rooms are well designed, cozy, and the facilities are excellent: hot water, good heating, access to free, clean water. Other places we stayed in the Patagonia region were not nearly as nice for the same price, so in my opinion this place is a steal. I also loved the breakfasts, self service doesn’t sound that nice but how they do it is very chic and clever. The only thing I will agree with the negative reviewers is the communication via WhatsApp: it is clearly not monitored consistently and should in general be better maintained. I had quite a bit of back and forth with the company before coming and while booking making it unnecessarily stressful and frustrating. But I don’t think that’s enough to discount it so harshly as others have.

We booked this place for 2 nights before entering the O circuit. We wanted someplace nice to relax and recover from the exhausting plane rides and a long drive before embarking on a long backpacking trip. We liked the place when we first checked in. The room was a bit small, but it was bright, cozy, and had a hut tub. Then we started to find the little things not working: the backdoor has a key to it but it's impossible to lock; the water in the hut tub was dirty and not very warm, and we couldn't find a way to change the temperature; we punched the code to enter the kitchen, however, the door wouldn't open (apparently, there was some trick to it, and we had to find out about that from calling the whatsapp number the receptionist gave us). But these were small things and hardly ruined our mood or opinion about the place. ||||The next day, we went to the park for a pre-O-circuit hike, and we came back to our place pretty late, at around 9 pm. But we thought it would be okay, because we have separated our stuff in piles, so packing the backpack should be fast. Except, we walked into our room and found that ALL OF OUR STUFF WERE GONE: from toothbrushes to toothpastes, from small backpacks to big suitcases, from clothes to shoes, my husband's various camera lenses, all my backpacking gears: tent, sleeping bag, sleeping pad, jet boil, fuel can, burner, rain gear, etc. ALL GONE. It was like we never stayed there the night before, or we had been completely checked out. Anger and panic came following our immediate shock. We rushed to the kitchen & reception room. Nobody was working there, but there was a luggage room. The luggage room was locked and we did not have the code to access it. So we texted and called the whatsapp number they gave us. About 20 mins later, finally someone called us back. Except they also had no idea nor explanations to what happened to our stuff, and where our stuff was. They just said:" I am coming to you to help you find your stuff. Be there in 20 mins". So we tried to be patient but meanwhile we were brewing in the mixture of anger, frustration, exhaustion, confusion, and sacredness. After 20 mins went by, there was no sign of the receptionist. We tried calling them again. Nobody picked it up. It was past 10 pm and at that point, I did not know if I would be able to do the O circuit the next day. When we were debating about if we should get the police involved, the receptionist finally showed up. She said she did not know what happened, but she went ahead and opened the luggage room. We found all of our stuff packed up in the luggage room without our consent nor permission. She apologized and said she would look into and find out what happened and provide an explanation. But until today, we did not hear back about the investigation. That night, we did not finish packing until 12:30 am. This experience was just jaw-dropping and unacceptable. We are still angered, frustrated, and disappointed by our stays there.