The world’s southernmost hotel opens at ‘the end of the Earth’

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Silversea’s first hotel has just opened in Chilean Patagonia, vastly improving the experience for guests flying to Antarctica. And it’s not just for cruisers.

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Just in time for the 2026-2027 Antarctica season, luxury cruise line Silversea has opened the world’s southernmost hotel in Puerto Williams, Chile, on the Tierra del Fuego archipelago at the tip of South America.

The Cormorant at 55 South aims to smooth the journey for “time-constrained” guests taking Silversea’s six-day Antarctica Fly Cruise expeditions, which include return charter flights direct to King George Island (1hr 45mins). Those wanting to avoid a possible “Drake Shake” on the more common – but unpredictable – ocean crossing of the Drake Passage from Ushuaia in Argentina to the Antarctic Peninsula also make up the 70-80 per cent of Silversea passengers who now fly at least one way.

Previously, guests waiting for flights to the seventh continent after arriving from Santiago were scattered between various small hotels in nearby Punta Arenas, and logistics were challenging. Flight schedules to one of the coldest places on Earth can vary considerably depending on visibility and wind conditions, and delays are common.

“We had a problem and we solved it with something quite beautiful,” Silversea president Bert Hernandez says of the low-rise hotel, which sits quietly in the landscape on the Patagonian island of Navarino, the icy waters of the Beagle Channel in front and the jagged granite peaks of the Dientes de Navarino (Teeth of Navarino) behind.

Given the challenges of the remote setting, the modular hotel was constructed much like a ship: the core was built on site while 150 identical bedrooms were assembled in Mendoza, Argentina, then trucked across the Andes to Puerto Williams. “It was time-consuming, costly and perilous, but it all came together nicely,” says Hernandez, in something of an understatement.

Chilean architects and interior designers have instilled a strong sense of place, using stone and native lenga beechwood, with an earthy colour palette of blues…

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