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Mari Mari Natural Reserve Experience


Quenuir, Chile

All-villa accommodation supported by seamless service and notable cuisine make a stay on this private Pacific coast reserve in the northern Patagonia region of Chile an indulgent and relaxing delight.

Hotel Mari Mari

Opened in the early 2000s as The Cliffs Preserve (and visited by the late Anthony Bourdain on his travel show), this 9,000-acre private coastal reserve was acquired by new owners in the second half of the decade and re-opened as the Mari Mari Natural Reserve Experience.

The six large homes on the property became guest villas and this means that in many ways Mari Mari does not feel like a traditional hotel or lodge but more like your fully staffed vacation villa with a club house, spa, and gourmet restaurant.

Each 2-bedroom villa has 3,800 square feet of space and each 5-bedroom villa has 5,500 square feet of space. All of the villas are named for native animals and all have large fireplaces, sea views, private gardens and decks, jetted tubs, radiant heat flooring, great beds and bedding, and organic bathroom amenities. There are no TVs, but there is Wi-Fi throughout.

Hotel Mari Mari suite

Each villa also has a private outdoor wood-fire heated hot tub just steps from the beach and a staff member runs around from tub to tub to make sure each one is hot and ready to use at any moment.

The best villa amenity, however, is location. All the Mari Mari houses are perched above the Pacific and you can hear and see the ocean from practically any spot in your villa (Villa 1 is closest to the lodge and restaurant). On a clear day you can see Chiloe Grande Island in the Chiloe archipelago. During my stay I was almost hoping for a big storm for the joy of watching it roll in. I was so tempted by the space, the roaring fire, and the view—rocky, rough, and moody like my memories of family trips to the Northern California coast—that I slipped into a nap after arriving.

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dining room at Hotel Mari Mari

Mari Mari is one of the few luxury accommodation options in the region that remains open year-round, which is how I found myself at the estate in May as South American fall was turning to winter. Mari Mari is more of a retreat than an adventure lodge but with 11 miles of coastline, 6 beaches, and 13 miles of trails (with more on the way) along the Pacific Ocean and through native Valdivian rainforest, there are plenty of active pursuits available to guests depending on the season.

When I was at Mari Mari, fall temperatures and conditions were good for hiking and I, along with my Mari Mari guide, cobbled together about five miles of trails on the reserve that allowed us to explore small peninsulas and headlands. One afternoon I went for a short ride on stocky Chilean horses through sections of rainforest and onto one of the roomy beaches in the reserve.

hiking at Hotel Mari Mari

South American summer months bring your best chance of seeing marine life including dolphins and five types of migrating whales including blue whales (the largest creature on earth). These pass during December, January, and February. Sea lions are also around and you can spot Humboldt and Magellanic penguins from mid-October through March.

Mari Mari is also home to notable land species including pumas, pudu (a rare tiny deer), hummingbirds, and the small long-tailed monito del monte which is the only direct relative of Australian marsupials in Latin America.

A tour of Mari Mari's very large organic garden, hen house, and greenhouses is available in all seasons and this is a wonderful introduction to the cuisine you'll be trying. This impressive organic operation is the passion project of Executive Chef Daniela Flores. She worked in the kitchen for nine years when the property was still known as The Cliffs Preserve and returned to head the kitchen of Mari Mari where she puts her Indigenous Mapuche roots (and all that organic goodness) front and center. "I feel the need to show the world how wonderfully noble our Mapuche culture is and to extol the virtues of its cuisine," she tells me.

horseback riding at Hotel Mari Mari

Daniela, who has an infectious laugh (which she unleashes often), does that through dishes like tender and plump shrimp pil-pil (a traditional preparation heavy on the garlic) in a broth that was so good I slurped it up with a spoon. Tender hake on creamy polenta topped with crisped diced organic vegetables was a festival of textures. Rib eye, served on a heaping bed of slowly caramelized onions and blueberries, was tender and rich. Grilled octopus came fire crisped on the outside but perfectly creamy and tender on the inside. Salads are an event too thanks to ample organic produce including cherry tomatoes and baby herbs and greens.

horseback riding at Hotel Mari Mari

Daniela's work in the garden and in the kitchen is matched and supported seamlessly by barman Luis Cerda who brings skills honed at some of Chile's top hotels, including the Explora Patagonia and the Ritz-Carlton in Santiago, to bear as he whips up welcome cocktails and pairs Chilean wines to the day's dishes in the small casual dining room with floor to ceiling windows facing the sea.

During my stay I learned that the name Mari Mari is a phrase in the Mapuche language that means hello—but also something deeper. Something more like "Welcome to be part of us" or, as Chef Daniela puts it, it's a kind of loving double high five. All of those interpretations seem fitting.

Web Address: www.hotelmarimari.com or book at Hotels.com
Total Number of Rooms: 6 multi-bedroom villas
Price Range: $900-$1,500 per person per night super all-inclusive including all meals, open bar, excursions, land transfers, and one massage per guest per stay.

Review by Karen Catchpole, photos by Eric Mohl.