We’ve long had a review of Chilean tour company Explora’s Salto Chico Lodge in the Torres del Paine national park, also listed sometimes as Explora Patagonia. It’s got one of the most fantastic mountain views in the world and is on the doorstep of one of the planet’s greatest hiking destinations.

You can cover a lot more ground on horseback than by foot, however, and Explora has formally launched a new equestrian tour program. One of our contributors was fortunate enough to be one of the first to experience it. Here’s one half day in a four-day program:

Before lunch my fate is an 11-mile ride. We begin by crossing the deep Chinas River, climbing up and down hillsides and passing the Laguna Jara Cruce.

Our destination is the remote Estancia 2 de Enero, a farm belonging to the owner of Explora. We stop here for mate (a typical herbal tea favored by gauchos on both the Argentinian and Chilean sides of the border) before cantering back along the high ridges following the scent of lunch. Guanacos (Patagonian llamas) disperse as we pass, some jumping over a fence in perfect line.

The rides cross pampas to icebergs and glaciers, alpine lakes and rivers, with expert guides customizing the itinerary depending on the skill and experience of the riders. As with the equestrian excursions the company runs in the Atacama desert, guests are assured of getting the best equipment and healthy horses used to carrying strangers.

See our full feature story (with gorgeous photos) on touring Patagonia by horseback with Explora.

With the opening of new Palacio Astoreca, luxury travelers have another luxury hotel option in Chile’s port city near several wine-producing regions.

Valparaiso has long been a popular destination for those traveling in Chile, but it’s also been lacking in high-end places to spend the night. Astoreca changes all that and let’s hope it’s the start of a trend. (The city could certainly use an influx of visitors to fund the work that needs to be done to keep the remaining aging funiculars running.)

You’ve probably read about this hotel already if you subscribe to any glossy travel magazines. The thing is, they were probably going off a press release and had never stepped inside. We’ve got a person on the scene in Chile, however, so our detailed review is from someone who has stayed there and eaten there.

The “stayed” part is all about the building: a restored 1920′s fairy tale house that looks like it came out of a children’s book drawing. Perched on a hillside—as most of the houses are here—it has terrific views over the rooftops to the harbor.

This is no frumpy B&B, however, as some original elements like parquet floors are combined with sleek interiors worthy of a design magazine shoot.

The “eaten” part is what is bringing curious diners from Santiago in: the chef’s previous posting was at Spain’s famous El Bulli restaurant. How’s that for pedigree? Our reviewer found the presentation and cuisine lived up to the hype.

The pool here is inside, giving our long-running featured Valparaiso hotel Casa Higueras an edge in the outdoor lounging category, but this one does have an outdoor hot tub.

See our full review of Palacio Astoreca boutique hotel in Chile.

Explora Atacama hotel, also known as Hotel de Larache, opened in the early 1990s and was a pioneer in northern Chile. They were the first ones to really put the area on the tourism map and their all-inclusive adventure lodge concept has become the norm others in the area have had to adopt when they arrived on the scene.

Tourism exploded in the region over the past decade and we’ve reviewed several excellent competitors: Awasi, Tierra Atacama, and Alto Atacama. Explora has kept up with the challenges though, renovating here, adding new excursions there, and making major upgrades to what’s offered in the restaurant. So while it’s not the fanciest in town, especially when it comes to the rooms, the 50-room lodge still draws more upscale adventure travelers than anyone else.

I’ve just updated our review of Explora Atacama after spending three nights there toward the end of 2012. The original reviewer described the public areas as “REI meets Ikea” and I still like that description. Well-traveled people donning apparel from Patagonia, Columbia, and ExOfficio are often perched on the sleek furniture sipping a Chilean Carmenere or a pisco cocktail. It is kind of like a luxury summer camp for adults, days spent hiking or biking, nights spent conversing and eating well. For each excursion, whether it’s soaking at the recently reopened Puritama Hot Springs or visiting the Tatio Geyser, the guide will have good food and drinks at the ready set out on a tablecloth.

Explora Atacama also has a few attributes few other lodges can equal. Despite its sizable acreage, it’s only a 10-minute walk from the town square. The bevy of horses in the in-house stables has no match elsewhere and the menu of excursions here is more extensive every day than at any of the other lodges. (Depending on occupancy, there are typically 12-18 guides on site, some doing two excursions per day.)

And the last attribute is, you can stay here before or after a Travesia overland tour through the Bolivian desert and salt flat (Salar de Uyuni). I did just that in November and will have a feature story up on it soon.

See our updated review of Explora Atacama Hotel de Larache.

The Atacama Desert region of northern Chile has gone from a barely known tourism region to one of the hotspots in South America, especially for upscale adventure travelers. It’s a common stop for people coming overland from Bolivia or Argentina and it’s a stop on many tours that explore the whole skinny country of Chile from top to bottom.

Because of this, the area is blessed with one of the best clusters of top-end hotels in the country, all within a few miles of each other. Alto Atacama feels like it’s all alone in the countryside, but in fact is just a short bike or van ride from the center of San Pedro.

This is the place to come if you want to get the desert experience all the time, not just on excursions. In a narrow valley with rocky cliffs on both sides, rooms and public areas have views that glow in various shades of brown, red, and orange as the sun changes position. With only native plants on site and little to mar the views from the low-slung buildings, it’s like a desert camp with air-con.

While Alto Atacama offers the expected adventure excursions to the usual spots, handled with a high level of service and comfortable transportation, here the guests who are more interested in hanging out than hiking enjoy the facilities. There’s an excellent full-blown spa on site and a series of swimming pools with different temperatures. The warm and cozy lounge with fireplace is an easy place to sink into for hours.

The hotel also gets high marks for its cuisine, which emphasizes locally sourced ingredients when possible. Good Chilean wines accompany meals best described as “Mediterranean meets the Andes” and the chef really shines with dessert selections.

Rooms here are a cut above most others in San Pedro, larger and with a private furnished terrace for each. The biggest ones also have an outdoor shower.

See more photos and our full detailed review of Alto Atacama Hotel and Spa in Chile.

If the opening of new luxury hotels is an indicator of a healthy economy, Chile is certainly doing much better than more-hyped Brazil. We’ve noted several times lately that most of the new and notable hotels opening or about to open in South America are located in Chile and the newest addition to the scene is Lastarria Boutique Hotel in Santiago.

Following in the footsteps of Hotel Aubrey not far away, Lastarria is a 14-room inn that nevertheless has a restaurant, lounge, and swimming pool. It also features spacious rooms that are certainly no B&B step down.

Here you have high quality linens, huge beds, classic antique-looking furniture, big windows, flat screen televisions, iPod docks, and 5-star bathrooms. In some rooms you get your own private balcony with sofas and lounge chairs or a Jacuzzi.

The location is attractive and convenient, close to a big park, the metro, and the nightlife neighborhood of Bellavista—a ten-minute walk away.

If you want a big business chain hotel, there are plenty of those in Santiago like you find in most any capital city. But if two instances is the start of a trend, then Santiago is on its way to  more personality in its upscale lodgings—fitting for a country that boasts so many of them elsewhere. It’ll be a while before this capital is anything close to Buenos Aires in terms of style, but the opening of Lastarria is a positive sign for those who like their hotel to feel intimate and attentive.

See our full review of Lastarria Boutique Hotel.

See other luxury hotels in Chile.