The Cormorant at 55 South sits on the Patagonian island of Navarino, overlooking the Beagle Channel and backed by the Dientes de Navarino mountain range. The low-rise hotel offers 150 compact-but-luxurious bedrooms, a lounge with a copper fireplace, a restaurant serving family-style asado, and a bar. Indigenous Yahgan culture and regional art feature throughout the property.
Silversea built the hotel to solve the logistical challenge of accommodating guests waiting for charter flights to King George Island after arriving from Santiago. Previously, travellers were scattered among various small hotels in Punta Arenas, and flight schedules to one of the coldest places on Earth vary considerably with visibility and wind conditions.
Silversea president Bert Hernandez said, “We had a problem and we solved it with something quite beautiful.” The modular hotel was constructed much like a ship: the core was built on site while the identical bedrooms were assembled in Mendoza, Argentina, then trucked across the Andes. Hernandez said, “It was time-consuming, costly and perilous, but it all came together nicely.”
Those wanting to avoid a possible Drake Shake on the unpredictable Drake Passage crossing from Ushuaia, Argentina, make up 70 to 80 per cent of Silversea passengers who now fly at least one way. The hotel offers guided hikes, horse-riding and kayaking, and a shuttle into Puerto Williams. The plan is for the Cormorant to become a tourism destination in its own right once the Antarctic cruising season ends in late February.