Why Is There a Swiss Ski Lodge on a Lake in Chile and How Did It Get There?

Generally — or maybe for the Euro-centric among us, when you think lakeside lounge with a view of snowy mountains in the distance, you think Lucerne or Annecy.

You might not think Chile. You would, in this case, be missing out — specifically on the sleek ‘n’ chic Hotel Awa on the shoreline of Lake Llanquihue, in the country’s Lake District.

hotel awa (4 images)

This hotel is reason enough to book a flight. The interiors are the perfect balance of rustic and design-minded, with leather sofas beneath vintage paintings of boats. The building, done up in concrete and glass, might have felt cold — but other natural materials, like volcanic stone and local laja stone, give it a lived-in feel. The hotel belongs here.

There’s also a spa, so you can take a few turns in the lap pool after taking in the surroundings through the floor-to-ceiling windows.

At $300 a night, it’s not cheap — but we’d estimate maybe half what you’d pay for similar lodgings in alpine Switzerland.

Meet your guide

Diane Rommel

Diane Rommel has written for The Wall Street Journal, Outside, Marie Claire, Cosmopolitan, Travel + Leisure, Wallpaper and Afar, as well as The Cut, Buzzfeed, Huffington Post and McSweeney’s. She once drove from London to Mongolia, via Siberia.