Accommodations and Food

Park accommodations and food are limited; hotel reservations are advisable.

Just below Volcán Osorno [1]’s permanent snow line, 1,200 meters above sea level, the 50-bunk Refugio Teski Ski Club (tel. 099/2623323, US$10 pp) also serves breakfast (US$4), lunch, and dinner (US$7 each). From a turnoff three kilometers north of the Ensenada junction, the refugio is a 13-kilometer climb on a newly paved road.

On the Río Petrohué’s south bank, reached by rowboat shuttle from the visitors center, the no-frills Hospedaje Küschel charges US$10 per person for beds, half that for camping. North of the visitors center, Conaf’s 24-site Camping Playa Petrohué charges US$15 for up to four persons.

Rebuilt after burning to the ground in 2002, the Middle European–style Hotel Petrohué (tel./fax 065/212025, www.petrohue.com [2], US$110/150 s/d with breakfast) is, by all accounts, at least the equal of what had always been a very fine hotel. Other rate options include half board (US$120/171 s/d) and packages with excursions included (US$175/280 s/d). Its small restaurant and bar are open to the public; otherwise, only limited supplies at high prices are available at Petrohué [3]’s only shop.

At the east end of the lake, the venerable Hotel Peulla (tel. 065/212053, www.hotelpeulla.cl [4], US$107/124 s/d with breakfast) is only so-so despite a magnificent setting. Its restaurant, Tejuela, has drawn some criticism for both price and quality.

Hotel Peulla’s ownership has also built the promising new, separately managed Hotel Natura (tel. 065/212053, www.hotelnatura.cl [5], US$131/148 s/d) in a grand alpine style. There’s an unofficial campsite, plus summer-only accommodations, at Hospedaje Hernández (around US$10 pp).