Hotel Las Majadas Pirque: Wineland’s Chilean Charm Unveiled
Nestled amidst the breathtaking landscapes of Pirque, Chile, Hotel Las Majadas emerges as a captivating retreat that seamlessly blends luxury with the tranquility of its surroundings. From the moment you step foot onto the meticulously manicured grounds, a sense of serenity envelops you, setting the stage for an unforgettable stay. With its architectural charm, impeccable service, and a wealth of amenities, Hotel Las Majadas proves to be more than just accommodation - it's an immersive experience that elevates the art of hospitality in the heart of Chile's picturesque countryside. Join me as I unravel the enchanting layers of this hidden gem, exploring the seamless fusion of comfort and nature that defines the essence of Hotel Las Majadas.
As I’ve said a number of times in the various Chile posts so far, our original trip of just Easter Island, Santiago and Valparaiso became extended each time in the various reworkings we had to do through Covid. With the LATAM domestic flights changing quite a bit from the various places we added (like Patagonia and the Atacama Desert) and having to book including Easter Island without knowing whether they would reopen post Covid before our arrival and what flights would be like (Easter Island only resumed tourism on 1st August 2022) we were going to have to spend at least one night back in Santiago and I didn’t really like the look of the airport options. Although I had originally wanted to go and stay at VIK Chile (check out the incredible architecture and location here), on realising this was too far of a drive from Santiago’s airport for this trip, on seeing Las Majadas (being featured as a recent addition to Leading Hotels of the World) I knew this would be a good option. Indeed it was, and other than a few quirks at the end it was an incredible stay and I’m so glad we experienced this and yet again another Leading Hotel of the World did not disappoint.
With having started our trip in Santiago (or STGO for short apparently) we had hoped to visit the Bahá'í Temple that we had seen featured in a George Clarke Amazing Spaces program; however without realising that everything pretty much closes on a Monday we had to rearrange our plans and thought it might be an idea to visit the Temple on our return to Santiago, before heading to Las Majadas. With the timing of our flight from Calama (Atacama Desert) and the temple not reopening after lunch until 2:30pm, we arranged with Las Majadas that we would go for lunch on the way. The hotel helpfully gave us some options, and I chose Bocanariz Wine Bar which had literally been around the corner from where we’d stayed at The Singular (hotel review here). Javiera from the hotel met us at the airport and facilitated our luxurious transport to the restaurant (checking on the way our reservation, and introducing us to the restaurant); then facilitating our onward transport and our welcome at the Temple itself. You can reserve (free) entry tickets in advance on their website, but when I tried to do this before arrival there hadn’t been any available for the day of our visit. Javiera organised this on arrival and accompanied us on the tour around this absolutely jaw dropping building, and its location on the hillside overlooking all of Santiago.
If you stay at Las Majadas, I’d definitely recommend taking the free daily (12:30pm) tour (with accompanying wine or fruit juice) to understand more about the history. I hadn’t appreciated that the Palace was originally converted into a conference centre (believe me, this is not a standard conference centre; the refurbishment cost post earthquake damage must have been astronomical to produce that change and quality of build). On realising that conferences and events might last more than one night, the new accommodation wing was built separately in the park to service this need, and it was only during Covid when obviously much of the conference business ceased that the accommodation wing was repurposed into a hotel. Originally (again through Covid restrictions) only available to domestic tourism (a good weekend break option from nearby STGO), this has now opened up to international tourism.
Fast Facts for Las Majadas Hotel Pirque
Address - José Julio Nieto s/n, Loteo Parque Las Majadas, Pirque, Santiago de Chile.
Website - https://www.lasmajadas.cl/en/home-en/
Group Website - https://www.lhw.com
Contact - reservas@lasmajadas.cl
Instagram - @lasmajadashotel
Nearest airport - Santiago’s Comodoro Arturo Merino Benítez International Airport (SCL) - 46 km or 29 miles (less than an hour’s transfer)
Opened - 1996 (originally as a conference hotel only)
Number of rooms / suites - 50 total (rooms and suites)
Number of floors - 3
Bars - 1 (plus the occasional opening Taverna in the Palace)
Restaurants - 1 (Sequoia)
Wellbeing - Outdoor pool, spa - dry sauna, wet sauna (steamroom), massages and spa treatments, gym, yoga (Sat/Sun or on request), mountain bikes.
Visited - February 2023
“A world of experiences alongside vineyards and the Andes.
A disconnection of the present.
A bite of authenticity.”
What about the Hotel Las Majadas location?
We flew down from the Atacama Desert back to Santiago, to then take a flight on to Easter Island. The hotel is under an hour’s drive from the airport (traffic dependent). On our way there we stopped both in the Lastarria District for lunch (at Bocanariz, very near to where we had previously stayed at The Singular - hotel review here) and then at then at the Baha’i Templo de Sud’America (more on this in my Travel Diaries series). For our time there, which was short being just an alternative to an airport stop between flights, we didn’t actually leave the hotel and grounds, which are absolutely spectacular. Being in a wine region, there are wineries nearby to visit and indeed the hotel itself has wine tasting activities.
Las Majadas Pirque - Leading Hotels of The World
On our return to the airport, what should have only taken around 40 minutes with our return being early on a Saturday morning for the next flight to Chile’s Easter Island (Isla de Pascua), in fact we very nearly missed our flight. The transfer, arranged with the hotel months in advance of our arrival, and confirmed the night before departure, highlighting the requirement for extra time at the airport with the additional procedures for travelling to Easter Island, did not turn up and we ended up leaving the hotel after 7am instead of the organised 6am. In addition, when being taken to the airport itself, despite advising the driver that we were flying domestically and where to, instead of dropping us at the terminal he parked and escorted us to the international part of the terminal which lost us even more time and at one point a LATAM agent told us we would need to rebook our flights. Thankfully, other staff members were more accommodating, and we made the original flight, but only just.
Hotel Accommodation at Hotel Las Majadas, Pirque
The bedrooms and suites (what they now call Parque Majadas Suite in Spanish or the Majadas Park Room in English) are situated in a modern building in the grounds of the historic Palace/French chateau style house. Built in a contemporary style (and in complete contradiction of the outside of the Palace, which I loved) this wood (salvaged and repurposed from the Palace renovation), concrete and glass building snaked through the grounds in an angular fashion, with all the living accommodation on both the 1st and 2nd floors of this three storey building. The ground level (when not a cantilever for parts of the upper level), housed the reception, bar, spa and ancillary facilities.
Our suite was 301 on what I would call the 2nd floor (but Chileans I think are like the US and call the ground floor 1st), at the very end of the building to take advantage of most space and a dual-aspect outlook. From the balcony (wooden screens to help keep out the sun later in the day) you could admire the full architecture of this extension, and from another window in the bedroom area (and one in the large en suite bathroom) could look out towards the outside heated pool area.
In a simple style, think polished concrete floors, wood-panelled walls, glass frontage and a white ceiling; and wood/Scandi style minimalist bathroom with dark grey porcelain walls, this was a large open suite which was very well appointed. There was a huge bed, sofa, occasional chairs (mustard colour which was a nice contrast to the simple fabric of the room and pristine white sheets), a large writing desk with coffee maker, a mini fridge with complimentary soft drinks and water, a snack tray with complimentary chips (crisps), chocolate, sweets and cookies. Hanging wardrobe space and drawers were open plan in the corridor and more than sufficient for a few nights’ stay. In addition (we found out it had been added later than the original design which explained why indeed it didn’t look as sleek as everything else) there was a large LCD TV on the wall. Wifi was provided throughout and was a really decent speed, as was very efficient air conditioning but also radiators for heating (though we didn’t need them when there) in both the bedroom area and bathroom.
If you’ve read some of my posts before, you’ll know (I do realise this is a quality problem!) one of the things I always focus on is whether a hotel bathroom has one sink or two. This was in fact a one sink bathroom, but I guess the focus should really be on the number of taps and the size of the sink. It was what I would call a Nordic style trough sink, massively wide with an area big enough for two people with their own taps. The bathroom also housed a large bath (with jacuzzi feature, it worked well), separate walk-in shower (great reusable, sustainable toiletries), glass walled WC and all luxurious but simple fittings by Duravit and Hansgrohe.
Food and Drink at Hotel Las Majadas
There was one main restaurant (Sequoia - named after many of the trees in the parkland) actually in a separate but joined building (if that makes any sense), which served breakfast, lunch and dinner. You could either go down to the ground floor and exit from the reception area to walk under the canopied section to enter the restaurant, or it was joined with a lift or staircase/ramps from the middle of floors 1 and 2 of the accommodation wing. Again stunning architecture and attention to detail to make something like this work.
Breakfast was amazing, with a massive self-service selection, as well as hot options for eggs etc. to order. From fresh juices (strawberry an option) to yoghurts, fruits and cheeses to meats, breads and pastries (including many gluten free options), and what we both loved was a fresh honeycomb delivering the most delicious dark, sweet honey; and a tea/coffee trolley which was wheeled around the guests tables.
The lunch menu was the same as dinner, a great choice of cocktails and wines and good choice of food - partially limited for vegetarians especially for one who won’t eat mushrooms, but they were accommodating to put on some extra dishes for me, and there were incredible salads as standard, and an repurpose of a plum risotto dish without the additional meat.
The bar in the hotel itself also had a cut-down version of this same menu with some additional (lighter) options but again there wasn’t much for a vegetarian so we decided to have all meals in the restaurant; as well as taking drinks on a terrace outside the hotel on more than one occasion. Service was excellent in the restaurant throughout (absolutely everyone was really great) and the first night in the bar was excellent too with Eghart I think his name was. Very disappointing the service the following night though, while waiting to sign the check and both servers noticing me but choosing to carry on with preparing other drinks, one of them then immediately served a Spanish lady as she went to a different part of the (sunken) bar while leaving me still waiting.
Facilities & Service at Hotel Las Majadas
There is a big focus on experiences here, and if you’re into wine (which we’re not unfortunately) this is the place for you. As well as having the park on your doorstep (and it really is beautiful), there are mountain bikes to hire, the outdoor pool and the spa, and yoga classes routinely organised at weekends. Although we were there Thursday and Friday, I had a one-to-one yoga session in the morning out in the park under the shade of the trees - a great combination class of stretching, sun salutations, pranayama breathing and then a long relaxing Shavasana session at the end. ‘Mrs’ The Private Traveller had hoped to join the ceramics experience, but it turned out this was unavailable during our stay as it was organised off site and the ceramicist was on vacation.
From our welcome at the airport with Javiera, and the welcome at the hotel itself we were treated so well and really loved our stay. The servicing of the room was extremely efficient and everything was so well maintained and clean throughout, and everyone we met at meals in the restaurant were exceptional too.
Highlights of our stay
There were so many highlights of the stay at the but here are just a few of the key points, which I hope you find a useful summary.
Location - great as an alternative to the centre of Santiago, and should have been quite convenient for the airport. The park is beautifully designed, and we’re so glad we took the Park and Palace tour (turned out it was just us as Josefa did a special tour in English, she was extremely knowledgeable, super friendly and funny, with perfect English.
Design - huge contrast to the Palace building, but loved the Scandi/minimalism architecture with concrete pillars, polished concrete floors and lots of glass and wood everywhere.
Service - amazing (Javiera was an excellent host) from everyone except the second shift bar staff.
Spa - great massage treatment itself, just felt it could have been more an experience and hopefully the landscaping outside the relaxation room is a work-in-progress.
Areas for improvement
Wherever we stay, I do always like to look at the positives on any property we stay in, and airlines we fly with etc. but sometimes you can’t help but notice things that (for me, but I realise this is always personal) might have made for a better stay.
Very sad to actually have to include any negatives here, as most of our stay was exceptional, but the late transfer was disappointing, as was the service from the two female members of the bar team. Without exception elsewhere, the staff were amazing from start to finish.
I’d lose the TV from outside the restaurant - it didn’t (to me) align to what you’d expect from a five star establishment.
A tip rather than a complaint - on our first night I realised during the night that the illumination of the temperature on the air con unit was very bright white LED, and actually illuminated what would otherwise have been a great blackened room (good drapes to block out any light). During daylight and when we went to bed again the second night, I’d forgotten about this and only realised on the last morning that there is an option on the remote control to switch off this display. The bed was too comfortable to get out and figure it out during the night!
Great massage in the spa (more about this in a separate blog), but I was expecting maybe more of what you’d call a spa experience rather than literally just the massage. They had a sauna and steam room, as well as experience showers there too, as well as in the changing rooms, all beautifully designed.
Whatsapp - they have this as they checked with us whether we had made our flight, but there wasn’t much promotion of this whilst there. I think Whatsapp is such a great idea for hotel contact, so I would suggest more awareness.
Would I stay here again?
Absolutely, if we were back in Santiago and looking for a non-city location, but still within an easy drive, we would come back for sure. It’s such a relaxing environment and has everything you could want for a short trip and somewhere to chill.
Easter Island had been on my radar for some time, so I was absolutely thrilled to finally get there, albeit with three years of Covid disruption. Chile only reopened for tourism in 2022, and Easter Island remained closed even beyond the rest of the country resuming visitors.