W Trek Patagonia Refugios Guide: How to Book + Honest Reviews of Each Stay
Everything you need to know before hiking the W Trek in Torres del Paine National Park
We decided to hike the W Trek in Patagonia in late March, thinking we’d score calmer weather, fewer crowds, and maybe even some sunshine.
We got… rain, blasting winds, snow, ice, a literal blizzard—and multiple trail closures (including both the French Valley and Base Towers).
So yeah—Patagonia humbled us real quick.
Originally, we planned a full 4-night W Trek from west to east, staying in refugios the entire way. We booked everything about 10 months in advance (which I highly recommend because these book out FAST).
But like most Patagonia trips… things didn’t go exactly as planned.
Our Original W Trek Refugio Plan (West → East)
- Camp Grey
- Paine Grande
- Cuernos
- Chileno
But on Day 3, when a blizzard shut down major trails, we made the call to pivot.
Instead of pushing through miserable conditions just to “complete the W,” we adjusted our route—which made the trip so much better.
Our Modified W Trek Itinerary (What We Actually Did)
- Camp Grey
- Paine Grande
→ Catamaran to Pudeto (where our car was) - EcoCamp Patagonia (luxury reset)
- Chileno (for sunrise base towers hike)
We skipped the middle section (~13 hours of hiking) and replaced Cuernos with EcoCamp. Yes, we lost money on that booking (no refund), but it was 100% worth it especially after finding out they closed down French Valley.
How to Book W Trek Refugios (It’s Easier Than You Think)
There are only two companies you need:
- Vertice Patagonia → Camp Grey + Paine Grande
- Las Torres Patagonia → Cuernos + Chileno
That’s it. No need to pay a third-party booking service.
Step 1: Choose Your Direction
West → East (what we did)
Camp Grey → Paine Grande → Cuernos → Chileno
Why we chose this:
- Ends at Chileno (closest to Base Towers)
- Makes sunrise hike a little easier
East → West
Chileno → Cuernos → Paine Grande → Grey
Downside:
If you want sunrise at the towers, your first day becomes brutal:
- 5-hour sunrise hike (2.5 hours each way from Chileno to the Base Towers and back)
- 5-hour hike to next refugio (Cuernos)
Hard pass (for us at least).
Step 2: Book Your Refugios
Each site lets you choose:
- Hostel bed (shared)
- price ~ $100 per person per night
- Pre-set tent (with sleeping mat, sleeping bag + pillow)
- price ~ $300 for a 2 person tent so $150 per person per night
- Or you can bring your own tent (you still need to pre-purchase a camping spot)
Meal Plans
- Full board: breakfast + bagged lunch + dinner
- price ~ $130 per person per campsite
- Half board: breakfast + dinner
- price averaged around ~ $80 per person per campsite
- Las Torres campsites meal plans were more expensive than Vertice campsites meal plans
- No meals: order from cafés
- Paine Grande did run out of pizza at one point while we were there so just keep that in mind
- I have pictures of the cafeteria menus for Paine Grande and Chileno below
We did half boards at each campsite and filled in with pizza/snacks—which worked great
Important Booking Tips For The W Trek
- Book hostels/tents 6–10 months in advance (especially for peak months: Dec–March)
- Refugios sell out FAST
- Weather can force changes—build flexibility into your mindset
- Refund policies are strict (learned that the hard way)
- Purchase a park entrance ticket from CONAF
- Keep your PDI ticket that you get from customs– you will need this at each refugio and when crossing borders. It looks like a receipt you would just throw away but it turned out to be pretty important
- We printed all our booking confirmations just in case but never needed to use it. At each refugio we just needed to show our Passport and PDI ticket.
- We never needed cash at any of the refugios. The only time we needed cash was when our hotel picked us up from the airport and for the private car transfer we used to get from Pudeto to Hotel Lago Grey.
- Screenshot all your confirmation codes/QR codes and save to a “Patagonia album” for easy access
- Download offline maps on Google maps if your driving a rental car
- Our hiking poles got stopped at the Santiago and Puerto Natales airports
- We had to check our backpacks
- Another option would be to rent hiking poles once in Puerto Natales
- Ill have my complete packing list for the W Trek on my next post
- Total cost for our 4 night stay (2 hostels, 1 tent and 1 EcoCamp pod) + meal plans + private car transfer + 2 catamarans: $1260 each
Our Modified W Trek Logistics (The “U” Trek)
West to East:
- Rented a car in Puerto Natales (Sixt Rental Car)
- Cost was $350 for a 9 day rental
- Make sure to get a border permit with the rental car company in advance if your planning to cross the border
- Drove 2.5 hours to Pudeto and left the rental car in the parking lot
- Took a one hour private car transfer to Hotel Lago Grey (we used Stomping Ground Transfers)
- Boarded the Grey III catamaran which drops you off near Camp Grey (do the 4pm departure for up close glacier views!)
- Cost is ~ $100 per person
Alternative: cheaper catamaran from Pudeto → Paine Grande, but requires extra hiking.
- If you choose the Pudeto catamaran you will have to hike 4.5 hours from Paine Grande to get to Camp Grey for your first night stay and then back track the next day to get back to Paine Grande for your second night stay.
- Pudetos catamaran cost is ~ $30 per person and it takes about 30 minutes
- Pudeto catamaran times slots and reservations can be found at Pudeto Catamaran Booking
Our Remaining Logistics:
- First night at Camp Grey
- The next day we hiked 4.5 hours to Paine Grande for our second night stay
- Next morning we took the 9:20 AM catamaran from Paine Grande to Pudeto and got our rental car
- Drove 45 minutes to Eco Camp for our 3rd night stay
- The next day we drove 4 minutes to the welcome center, left the car, and hiked 2.5 hours to Chileno Camp for our 4th night stay
- Last day we woke up at 345am and did the 2.5 hour sunrise hike to the Base Towers. We then hiked 2.5 hours back down to Chileno for a quick break/food then hiked another 2.5 hours to the welcome center to get the car and drove 4.5 hours to El Calafate.
- This was a very long day especially on 2 hours of sleep but the Base Towers at sunrise with only 3 other people was so worth it.
Bus Sur Information from Puerto Natales to Torres Del Paine Park:
- If you choose to take buses rather then a rental car, Bus Sur is the main option. There are other bus options available.
- They run from Puerto Natales to Laguna Amarga to Pudeto to Hotel Lago Grey
- And then they run back from Hotel Lago Grey to Pudeto to Laguna Amarga to Puerto Natales
- If you are doing the East to West route:
- when starting the trek you will get off at Laguna Amarga and take the shuttle to the welcome center to begin the trek
- when ending the trek it depends on which catamaran you take
- if you take the catamaran from Paine Grande to Pudeto you will get on a bus at Pudeto to head towards Puerto Natales
- if you take the catamaran from Camp Grey to Hotel Lago Grey you will get on a bus at Hotel Lago Grey to head towards Puerto Natales
- If you are doing the West to East route:
- when starting the trek you will either take the bus to Pudeto or Hotel Lago Grey depending on which catamaran you wish to take and where you want to begin the trek
- when ending the trek you will take the shuttle from the welcome center to Laguna Amarga and then get on the bus that goes to Puerto Natales
Honest Reviews of Each W Trek Refugio (And EcoCamp)
1. Camp Grey
Vibe: Small, cozy, a bit chaotic
Room: 6-person bunk room
- Dinner: buffet (chicken, beef, rice, noodles, soup, dessert) — decent
- Breakfast: eggs, bread, deli meat, cereal, instant coffee
- Bar: small but fun
- I did see an option to purchase specialty coffees such as lattes from the bar area
Wifi:
- You get free WIFI for 30 minutes after connecting to the ONAFI network
- After the 30 minutes you can purchase more WIFI at a self-service kiosk
Sleep situation… rough:
- Hot, humid, smelled like wet clothes
- Pitch black at night
- Top bunk struggles
Sleep rating: 4/10
2. Paine Grande
Vibe: Big, social, way more comfortable
- Large common areas with couches + fireplaces
- Upstairs bar with pizza + drinks
- Beautiful lakeside views
- This refugio is the most windy so try and get a hostel bed rather then a tent
- The wind gusts outside our hostel room were wild
Room:
- Private bunk room (just us 🙌)
- Cold room, but I’ll take that over hot any day
WIFI:
- You get free WIFI for 30 minutes after connecting to the ONAFI network
- After the 30 minutes you can purchase more WIFI at a self-service kiosk
Food: Similar to Grey, still decent
Sleep rating: 8/10 (huge upgrade)
3. EcoCamp Patagonia (Our Pivot Stay)
Vibe: Luxury meets nature
BEST decision we made.
- Private dome pod with fireplace
- Warm showers (hot water was limited to 20 minutes at a time)
- Super cozy bed
- 3-course dinner + buffet breakfast included
Extras:
- Yoga dome
- Massage dome
- Community hangout space with snacks + a bar
Sleep rating: 10/10
WIFI: None
Experience: Worth every penny
Cost: $780 for a suite dome which we booked very last minute
4. Chileno Camp
Vibe: Small, functional, all about location
Closest stay to Base Towers (about 2.5 hours up)
- Cute setting by a creek
- Cafeteria + bar with surprisingly good pizza
- Tents on platforms
- Dinner consisted of soup, buger patty with sauce and a gelatin dessert- decent
Sleep… not great:
- Mattress felt like plywood
- Maybe 2 hours of sleep before 3:45am alarm
- Left our big backpacks in the cafeteria which is always open and we took small light backpacks with us for the Base Towers hike
WIFI:
- You get free WIFI for 30 minutes after connecting to the ONAFI network
- After the 30 minutes you can purchase more WIFI at a self-service kiosk
Pro tip:
If doing sunrise hike, ask for early breakfast the night before or just don’t purchase the breakfast when buying meal plans for this refugio. We had bought a half board and did not think about the fact we would be out doing the Base Towers hike from around ~5am to 11am. We should have just bought the dinner for this camp site.
Overall Thoughts on the W Trek Refugios
This was such a unique experience—hiking between refugios, meeting other travelers, and having food + shelter along the way made it feel like a mix of adventure and comfort.
What I Loved
- Not carrying full camping gear
- Social vibe at refugios
- Easy logistics once booked
- Meals cooked for you
What Was Tough
- Weather (completely unpredictable)
- Sleep quality (hit or miss)
- Strict refund policies
Skipping part of the trail and adding EcoCamp made the experience way more enjoyable without feeling like we missed out.
Sometimes it’s not about doing the full trek—it’s about actually enjoying it.
After doing the modified W Trek and mini trekking on Perito Moreno Glacier we made our final stop in El Chalten and stayed in the incredible cliffside OVO Pods with views of Fitz Roy on clear days – highly recommend!
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