Sleeping in Patagonia without heat

While I read in travel guidebooks that most lodging in Chile does not include centrally heated rooms, I didn’t fully comprehend what this meant. Up to this point, the places in Santiago where I stayed had kerosene heaters in the common areas and a few space heaters in the rooms. And the crappy Inca Lodge where I stayed at the Portillo ski resort was actually so over-heated with radiators that the windows were often times left partially open. During my first night in Puerto Varas, I finally understood the implications of living without heat.

It is no joke that outside temperatures are warmer than indoor temperatures this time of year. At least the sun warms the outside, while the interior of a home remains a chilly cavern. And the windows don’t fully seal (I stand by my belief that everything in Chile is mostly functional, but slightly broken) – but this doesn’t matter considering it might be nice to get a “balmy” daytime breeze in your room during the day.

The staff here at the Casa Margouya Hospedaje knows how to work the single kerosene heater… but on our first night they left in the early evening and turned everything off. Brrr! We basically wore ski-gear to bed, minus the outer shell—under 2 comforters and a blanket.

As a Canadian, Stephanie knows cold. She tells me even igloos in the Northern territory of Nunavut have central heating these days. She wore a hat (aka, toque in Canadan-speak), mittens, scarf and hoodie to bed!