Top 15 Resorts in South America: Readers’ Choice Awards 2023
View all of the 2023 Reader’s Choice Awards winners here.
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Courtesy Uxua Casa HotelhotelUxua Casa Hotel & Spa
$$ |
Gold List 2018, 2019, 2023 
Readers' Choice Awards 2016, 2018, 2019, 2020, 2021, 2022, 2023Surrounded by dense rainforest and teetering high on a ridge overlooking the powder-sand-fringed Atlantic, Uxua fits right into the post-hippie utopia of Trancoso. Working with local artisans, Dutch owner Wilbert Das (Diesel’s former creative director) has turned the hotel into a collection of rustic renovated casas, cottages, an intimate treehouse, and a tribal-inspired spa. All are cloaked by hummingbird-flecked tropical gardens and centered around a pool lined with green aventurine quartz, which, for those not up on their healing crystals, is said to be very therapeutic. Interiors are haute-boho: roomy indoor-outdoor sitting rooms and airy living spaces with dazzling-white walls and muslin-canopied beds, accented with lots of reclaimed wood, antiques, and vintage finds including brightly painted Virgin Mary statuettes. A decked path runs through mangrove forests to the beach, where there are enormous day beds for post-breakfast snoozing and a beach bar fashioned from an old fishing boat—just stay horizontal and another Caipirinha will soon find its way to you.
Courtesy of Mashpi LodgehotelMashpi Lodge
$$ | Readers' Choice Awards 2017, 2019, 2020, 2021, 2022, 2023Immerse yourself in Ecuador’s cloud forest—home to endemic amphibians, ocelots, and more than 500 species of birds—at this high-design, three-story, glass-and-steel lodge. Daily activities showcase the best of the biodiverse surroundings: Zip line across the forest canopy by aerial bicycle (spotting rare orchids along the way), observe toucans from the scientist-frequented Life Centre, or hike deep into the mist in search of waterfalls and Mashpi’s charismatic capuchins (white-faced monkeys) and margays (small, arboreal spotted cats).
Courtesy Finch Bay Galapagos HotelhotelFinch Bay Galapagos Hotel
$$ | Readers' Choice Awards 2017, 2019, 2020, 2021, 2022, 2023If you’ve only ever visited the Galapagos Islands by sea, this beachfront eco-lodge on the south side of Santa Cruz Island makes a strong case for getting your feet in the sand and sticking around for a while. Expect breezy porches strung with hammocks, a restaurant serving sustainable slipper lobster, and access to a mangrove-lined beach. The hotel offers plenty of excursions (including yacht tours and visits to a giant tortoise reserve), but one of the true joys of this place is simply wandering around the island. Exploring by foot means you’ll have access to the Charles Darwin Research Station, the marine iguanas of Tortuga Bay Beach, and the crystal-clear swimming holes known as Las Grietas.
Courtesy MarriotthotelHotel Paracas, a Luxury Collection Resort, Paracas
$ | Readers' Choice Awards 2018, 2019, 2020, 2021, 2022, 2023Amid the ruins of the iconic Hotel Paracas that crumbled during an August 2007 earthquake, famed Peruvian architect Bernardo Fort-Brescia designed this new 120-room resort (part of Starwood’s Luxury Collection) in the coastal desert three hours south of Lima. Two-story white bungalows blend into the dune-filled horizon, contrasting the deep-blue waters of the Paracas National Reserve. While the bay is better for windsurfing, the daybeds at the glitzy pool scenes, where roving waiters fetch a steady supply of passion fruit sours and ceviche, have become the new it spot for Lima’s well-to-do. The hotel makes a restful base for a slew of nearby adventures—you can do scenic flights of the Nazca desert geoglyphs in its private jet, yacht rides to spot Humboldt penguins on the Islas Ballestas, and pisco tastings at the Viñas de Oro distillery right at the resort.
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Courtesy The Singular PatagoniahotelThe Singular Patagonia
$$$ | Gold List 2020 Readers' Choice Awards 2017, 2018, 2019, 2020, 2021, 2023While other luxury lodges in Patagonia are purpose-built, the Singular has a less glamorous history. Constructed in 1915 as an agricultural building, it was reborn in 2011 after a daring renovation as a 57-room hotel. Rather than try to erase its past, the place embraces it. Austere, dramatic design choices reference its heritage in a way that feels modern. Hulking machinery has been left intact in the huge public spaces. A block of guest rooms built of brick, steel, and timber is connected to the original structure; its coarse textures contrast beautifully with sleek, wall-size windows that frame a showstopping view of the wind-ruffled waters of Ultima Esperanza Sound from every fluffy white bed. Lamb, as well as other local specialties such as king crab and guanaco, appears throughout the menu in the two-story dining room. The result is a feeling of being indulged but not coddled, primed for adventure in the wilderness on excursions ranging from hiking in Torres del Paine National Park to fly-fishing and horseback riding. Go for the epic landscape and unique historical atmosphere—and the excellent pisco sours. Doubles from $365.
Courtesy Tierra Atacama Hotel & SpahotelTierra Atacama Hotel & Spa
$$$ | Gold List 2020 Readers' Choice Awards 2017, 2018, 2019, 2020, 2021, 2023The Tierra brand has found a sweet spot creating otherworldly hotels in the middle of natural wonders, including rooms set alongside craggy mountains overlooking choppy bodies of water in Patagonia. But the Atacama property is undoubtedly the brand’s lodestar, with its cowhide rugs, mud-brick walls, and rattan daybeds. It’s tempting to just want to stay by the lap pool overlooking the sometimes-smoking Licancabur volcano. But the excursions, led by the hotel’s incredibly well-informed guides, are the kind visitors won’t want to miss—whether that’s heading up to 14,000 feet pre-dawn to drink coca-leaf tea around natural geysers or stargazing with a local astronomer to see the Milky Way more clearly than anywhere else on the planet.
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White Desert Antarctica/EchohotelWhite Desert — Echo
$$$ |
Hot List 2023 Readers' Choice Awards 2023When you feel like you’ve nearly done it all in “bucket list” travel—and you have the financial bandwidth to partake in a one-of-a-kind, ultra-exclusive journey that could potentially outshine most (if not all) of your previous global pursuits—Echo Camp is waiting. Tour operator White Desert’s space-themed property is one of the world’s most audacious eco-luxury projects, featuring an otherworldly design set in an even more otherworldly landscape in Antarctica’s glacier-lined Henriksen Nunataks. It’s the most luxurious base from which to explore coastal colonies of dawdling emperor penguins and to reach the near-mythic South Pole, while near-camp activities include ice wall climbing, skiing, nunatak summit hikes and abseils, and fat biking through scenic wave-textured ice plains. If you can afford it, I suggest going “all the way” and booking the 7-night/8-day South Pole & Emperors trip. Not only will you enjoy the soul-stirring scene of a 1,000-plus colony of bumbling, chirpy penguins on Akta Bay, but you’ll also get to experience what only about 500 tourists achieve per year: a journey to the geographic nadir of Mother Earth. Itineraries from $65,000. —Travis Levius
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Courtesy Tierra HotelshotelTierra Chiloé Adventure and Spa Hotel
$$ | Gold List 2018 Readers' Choice Awards 2017, 2018, 2019, 2020, 2021, 2023This might be the coolest hotel in Chile. The 24-room property on the remote, southern island of Chiloé—about two hours by plane from Santiago—is an all-inclusive destination resort that does just about everything right, from traditional scratch-made apple tarts at breakfast to horseback riding along deserted stretches of coast to pisco sour cocktail hour. Rooms have wide-angle views of the bay, sumptuous beds, and rainfall showers. There’s a communal lobby that feels more like a mountain lodge living room, with roaring fireplaces and wool blankets; the oversized hot tub is magical; plus there's a brand new spa and pool. But activities—as at all Tierra properties—are the special sauce here: Trekking through woodlands, visiting small farming communities to shop their produce markets, getting behind the scenes of restoration projects underway at UNESCO-protected wooden churches; sailing the waters off Chiloé in the hotel’s private yacht. Everything’s included, and guests are free to pick and choose from the menu of options—all the more reason to love this all inclusive.
Courtesy Hangaroa Eco Village & SpahotelNayara Hangaroa
$$$ | Readers' Choice Awards 2017, 2023With 75 rooms and an ocean vista in the center of town, the Hangaroa Eco Village & Spa has it made: The retreat occupies a choice swath of land on the southwestern tip of Easter Island, about a four-and-a-half hour flight from Santiago, and sits just five minutes from the local airport. Aside from its prime location, the hotel's breezy, open-concept layout and sea-view rooms (each outfitted with custom clay baths, crafted by Chilean artisans) help deliver that blissed out vibe—pretty rare for a retreat this close to the action. There are two restaurants and a bar, each of which draw from local seafood and produce, along with Polynesian spices, plus a four-room spa and a pool; but the main event at Hangaroa are the island excursions. Hop on a horse and tour the island, or hitch up for a two-hour sunrise hike in Ahu Tongariki, an ancient ceremonial platform outfitted with 15 giant stone statues. And should you decide to stay put on the pristine beaches of Rapa Nui? Well, that's okay too.
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Courtesy Casa de UcohotelCasa de Uco Vineyards & Wine Resort
$$ | Hot List 2015 Readers' Choice Awards 2020, 2021, 2023
Courtesy Cascada ExpedicioneshotelEcoCamp Patagonia
$$ | Readers' Choice Awards 2017, 2018, 2019, 2020, 2021, 2023
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Explora PatagoniahotelExplora Patagonia National Park
$$$ | Gold List 2024 Readers' Choice Awards 2017, 2018, 2020, 2021, 2023Explora’s lodge in Patagonia National Park, set in remote southern Chile’s Chacabuco Valley, is the best way to see this still-pristine and untouristed swath of wilderness. There’s access to miles of amazing hiking trails, gin-bottle blue glacial rivers and lakes, and ample opportunity to spot the native wildlife thriving on this government-protected parkland sustained by ecotourism. That the lodge is supremely chic, with excellent food and the most enthusiastic, kind, and knowledgeable guides makes it a true treasure. The room decor is exactly right for the location, simple but so beautiful with wide-planked floors, beamed ceilings, wood-framed windows, and built-in armoires. Colors are neutral and echo the surroundings rather than compete with them—stone gray throw blankets and pillows, beige armchairs, white walls–and artwork is at a minimum—maybe a tasteful landscape photograph in a simple black frame. It’s all very understated and elegant without feeling at all overthought or precious. The main lodge is the heart of the property and where the casual reception desk, sweet bar, dining room, and lounging spaces are. It’s where you meet your guide in the morning, gather for a beer or a pisco sour after a trek, read before dinner, and take all of your meals. Food and drinks are all-inclusive here, which makes everything easy and stress-free. For such a small lodge, the food is stellar. Like with the decor, it’s about quality and attention to detail—nothing flashy but everything extremely well executed. From the general manager to the guides and the chefs—everyone is warm, professional, and extremely capable. From $920. —Rebecca Misner
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Vik ChilehotelVik Chile
$$$ | Hot List 2015 Readers' Choice Awards 2017, 2018, 2019, 2020, 2021, 2023The 29 rooms at this 13,000-acre winery are each completely unique: in the Chile suite, sisal covers the walls and the doors are carved from cork; in the Norge suite (in honor of Alex Vik’s Scandinavian heritage), contemporary works by Norway’s best-known artists hang alongside rare folk textiles. You can ride horses through the vineyards, or taste en primeur vintages in the oak-paneled library. Note that this property used to be called Viña Vik Millahue.