Accommodations and Food

Río Tranquilo [1] has above average accommodations for a town its size; unless otherwise indicated, all use the same community telephone (tel. 067/419500) for messages.

Two blocks west of the highway, local favorite Residencial Darka (Los Arrayanes 330, US$8 pp) has smallish rooms with twin beds and shared bath.

Right on the highway, Hostería Costanera (Carretera Austral s/n, tel. 067/411121, US$13 pp) is friendly enough but suffers the shortcomings of many cheap hotels—too many beds in too many rooms. Some rooms are claustrophobically tiny, others spacious; some beds are firm, others sag like hammocks.

Also on the highway, Residencial Carretera Austral (Carretera Austral s/n, lopezpinuer [at] yahoo [dot] es, US$11 pp) also has cabañas that can work out cheaper for a group. In addition, it has a modest restaurant.

With 10 rooms divided by a corridor, friendly, family-run Hostal Los Pinos (Godoy 51, tel. 067/411576, US$11 pp, US$31 d) has spotless accommodations with breakfast and either shared or private bath. Low-season prices are about 10–15 percent cheaper. Its restaurant is also above average, serving fixed-price lunches or dinners for US$5–6 in a tobacco-free dining room.

Los Pinos is no longer the best, though, since the opening of Hostal El Puesto (Pedro Lagos 258, tel. 02/1964555, www.elpuesto.cl [2], US$60 s or d), which is closer in style to high-priced fishing lodges than it is to traditional roadside accommodations (actually, it’s a couple blocks west of the highway).

In the Valle Exploradores [3], German-owned Albergue Campo Alacaluf (Km 44, US$28/33–41/45 s/d) has four rooms with either shared or private bath in a rustically handsome house with 24-hour electricity from its own turbine. Rates include breakfast, and other simple home-cooked meals cost US$9. A campground is in the works.