Blog
Notes from the ground.
Destination guides, industry analysis and opinion on luxury travel in South America.
IndustrySep 29, 20265 min read
We analyzed 1,397 independent lodges in Chile with AI. Here's what we found.
Chile's small lodges are rated among the best in the country, most can take a booking online, and almost none of them keep in touch with their guests or reach the international trade.
DestinationsSep 25, 20262 min read
Crossing from Torres del Paine to El Calafate
Five to six hours, two border posts seven kilometres apart, and a set of rules that only bite in one direction. Most of what goes wrong here is avoidable.
DestinationsSep 25, 20262 min read
How many nights in Atacama, and how to handle the altitude
Four nights is the floor, and the first one is spent low. Three nights leaves two useful days, because arrival day can't include altitude.
DestinationsSep 25, 20261 min read
How to get to San Pedro de Atacama
San Pedro has no airport. The route is Santiago to Calama, two hours in the air, then about an hour and a quarter across the desert.
DestinationsSep 25, 20262 min read
How to get to Torres del Paine from Santiago
A flight of about four hours, a van of about one hour forty-five, and one detail that decides the whole day: the time the lodge collects guests.
DestinationsSep 25, 20261 min read
When to go to San Pedro de Atacama, and when to avoid it
The desert works almost all year. Two windows deserve care, and for opposite reasons: February and early March bring rain that closes roads, and December fills up.
IndustrySep 24, 20264 min read
"We don't sell. People buy from us."
Two months of conversations with Chilean luxury hotels and suppliers, and a map of the three stages they fall into, from no commercial team at all to paying a quarter of revenue for trips they can't assemble.
OpinionSep 23, 20264 min read
The Uber Turn
Uber made the driver the hero of its story while building the asset that made any one driver interchangeable, and travel is running a version of the same play.
DestinationsSep 22, 20262 min read
How many nights to stay in Torres del Paine
Four nights is the floor, because the weather gets a vote. Five or six is where most trips should land.
DestinationsSep 22, 20263 min read
Puerto Natales or Punta Arenas: which airport for Torres del Paine
Most travelers land in Punta Arenas because it has more flights. It costs them a full day in a van.
IndustrySep 22, 20265 min read
The Future of Booking
Travelers will soon plan trips by talking to an AI, and the value will settle on the ground, far from the chat window.
DestinationsSep 22, 20263 min read
When to go to Torres del Paine, and how far ahead to book
The season barely changes your transfer times, but it decides what you can still book and how many hours of light your traveler gets.
OpinionSep 22, 20263 min read
Who Creates the Value, and Who Keeps It
The lodge spends years creating the reason for the trip. Then it hands back about a quarter of the revenue to a chain it can't see into. Why that happens, and why it's starting to change.