A stay at Refugia Chiloé is a unique luxury travel experience. The remarkable architecture exudes warmth and local authenticity where guests are treated with friendly, personalised care and attention. In this extraordinary natural setting, every guest may experience the island’s mix of land and sea, culture and history, and art and nature through active adventures and quiet contemplation. Our goal is to provide guests with wonderful vacations and a lasting connection with Chiloé and Chile itself.
An architectural jaw-dropper envisioned by Santiago-based Mobil Arquitectos, Refugia Chiloé commands its hilltop perch with two shingle-clad guest wings stretched wide, offering panoramic views of the Pullao wetlands and Rilán Peninsula. Our boutique hotel embraces simplicity, balance and functionality, championing sustainable materials and craftsmanship – a tribute to human creativity and the natural world.
The living room, bar and dining areas flow together around the hanging fireplace made of Chilean copper, and bring guests together in an array of social spaces and private nooks for convivial times and/or quiet moments. At our boutique hotel in Chiloé, sofas are comfy, tables are handmade from wood, and quality artisan elements spark joy. An outdoor fireplace made of stone is found on a terrace outside the dining area, the perfect place to sit overlooking the sea. Off the bar is yet another terrace where the Curanto is cooked and local musicians often play during cocktail hour.
The restaurant has a welcoming ambience with panoramic windows looking to the greens and blues beyond. Warm lighting, natural textures and wood abound. The Chef is a culinary artist and our farm-to-table dining is always a guest highlight. Refugia has its own garden, and our friends in the local fishing and farming community supply us with their lamb, beef, shellfish, sausages, famous Chilote potatoes, honey, herbs and more.
Refugia’s luxury Spa is a peaceful space with a calm granite vibe. Rich wooden paneling and heated stone floors create a serene and inviting space, embracing guests in a warm cocoon after a day of adventure. Slip into the heated indoor pool, sauna or steam room, indulge in a massage or treatment using local ingredients, or soak in the surrounds of the outside heated infinity pool, with panoramic views of the wildlife-rich Pullao wetands.
Boating is a part of daily life for the locals of Chiloé. Refugia Chiloé’s wooden yacht, the locally-built and much loved ‘Williche’, allows guests to appreciate an authentic perspective of day-to-day life in the archipelago. A highlight of a luxury adventure vacation, the Williche and its crew take guests to the tiny islands of the archipelago as well as to the best locations for kayaking and sightings of all manner of birdlife and sealife. Dolphins frequently ride along the bow waves.
Refugia Chiloé is a luxury hotel and spa in Chile, owned and operated by the Purcell family: American Chileans with a long history of expertise and success in hospitality, as well as dedication to conservation of natural beauty and culture. Internationally known for their esteemed Ski Portillo resort in the Andes, the Purcell family are also the founders and developers, but now minority shareholders, of Tierra Hotels. Refugia Chiloe Hotel & Spa is fully owned and operated by the Purcells and remains a sister hotel to Tierra Atacama and Tierra Patagonia.
The Refugia Chiloé team loves to share the bounty, beauty and mysteries of Chiloé island and provide our guests with a luxury travel experience of adventure, inspiration, rest and rejuvenation. Our mission is to ensure that our guests enjoy an unforgettable and great vacation experience. The hotel’s inspired architecture and interiors, personalised excursions, vibrant cuisine and world-class spa combined with our renowned hospitality are all trademarks of Refugia Chiloé.
“To work with our team to connect people from around the world to a place as special and unique as Chiloé Island in Chile, and to give them an experience centered on nature, beauty and everything local, while also giving them the comfort and luxury of our boutique hotel built with architecture and design true to the place.” Miguel Purcell
At our luxury boutique hotel in Chiloé, we welcome families, couples, groups of friends, solo travelers, and also affinity groups and companies. We appreciate our guests and understand that their vacations are significant, valuable and sacred moments in their lives; memories to be cherished forever. We take that seriously. It’s our pleasure to help our guests celebrate their birthdays, anniversaries, family reunions, honeymoons, couples’ getaways or just their adventure holidays to see and experience Chiloé, Chile.
Refugia Chiloé has a dynamic environmental management plan featuring advanced and emerging technologies as well as simple actions like the elimination of single use plastics, and minimizing our carbon footprint. We aim to enhance guest experience with awareness and care of our land, sea and community.
We support the Center for Conservation and Study of Natural Heritage (CECPAN) in promoting the sustainable management of the Pullao wetlands and preservation of their biodiversity and habitat for a rich array of shorebirds including curved-billed curlew, Hudsonian godwit, Chilean flamingo, Chilean plover and black-necked swan. We also avoid single use plastics, and take many actions to reduce carbon footprint.
We offer a range of excursions that give guests the opportunity to experience the local customs and traditions of our region. We share a strong link with the local community, from the slippers provided for each guest, hand-knitted by our neighbors, to the local farmers who supplement the organic harvest from our orchards and vegetable gardens.
The hotel was designed to optimise natural resources including wind, sunlight and rainwater. We use natural cross ventilation and efficient lighting to reduce the use of fossil fuels. The exterior is clad in wooden shingles, ensuring minimal heat loss, and renewable biomass energy is used to heat the hotel, further reducing our carbon footprint.
Refugia Chiloé’s geometric, wood-shingled sustainable design embraces modern building techniques while honoring the traditional architecture of the region. The structure is at one with its environment, makes clever use of local materials and is designed to provide shelter from the often changeable weather conditions.
The aesthetic, characterized by clean lines, natural woods, industrial beams, and huge glass panes, mixes local artisan traditions with cutting-edge modern design.MICHELIN Guide
Intrepid explorers of Chile’s wildly beautiful coastline rave about the Rilàn Peninsula, and the area’s scenic channels and fiords. The windswept Isla Grande de Chiloé comes in for special mention, a nugget of green hills, sleepy hamlets, wooden churches and endless horizons, in the middle of which is the Refugia Chiloé hotel.Daven Wu Wallpaper
Set on the east coast of Chiloé, the hotel looks across a grassy meadow to Pullao Bay and Hudson Channel. Arriving along an unmade, tree-lined road you almost can’t see the hotel until you are right upon it, which just adds to the feeling of discovering a retreat in the middle of nowhere.Sarah Gordon The Telegraph
We loved our time at Refugia Chiloe. The location, views, food, excursions and massages were better than we could have expected. And the icing on the cake was the lovely people who work at Refugia Chiloé - from the excursion guides to the waiters and waitresses and the front desk staff.Lisa Past Guest of Refugia Chiloé
With serene, panoramic views of Pullao Bay and the southern archipelago, twenty-four elegant and understated rooms offer a luxurious retreat and have been designed to bring the outside in, inspired by the island’s rich culture and history.
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A warm cocoon nestled beneath the hotel, Uma Spa is the perfect place to rest, reflect and recover after a day of discovery, promising guests a physical and spiritual refuge and a menu of signature treatments to revitalise body and soul.
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With Refugia Chiloé as a luxury base, navigate the archipelago on boating or kayaking escapades, uncover UNESCO cultural treasures, cycle or trek through scenic landscapes, bask in the verdant forests and embark on horseback odysseys.
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