Each describes a different reason to choose a hotel. A hotel can belong to more than one, and none of them is a ranking. Select one to filter the guide.
Each one passed four tests: independent evidence of quality, a true luxury product for its type, a clear reason to choose it over nearby alternatives, and a realistic price. Select one for why you'd choose it, who it suits and what we checked.
Lowest standard rate we found for two people in the entry room, per room per night, high season where available. All-inclusive lodges include meals, drinks and guided outings, which is most of the gap.
Curation over comprehensiveness: we research widely, then keep only the hotels that clear a high bar. Researching a hotel and deciding it doesn't belong is a normal outcome. We don't score or rank hotels. Pages are desk-researched unless they say we've stayed there.
Every South American hotel in the MICHELIN Guide, Relais & Châteaux, SLH and LHW; the Forbes, World's 50 Best, Condé Nast Traveler and Travel + Leisure lists; every luxury brand; then region by region.
One inspection or expert signal (a MICHELIN Key, a Forbes rating, World's 50 Best, Condé Nast Traveler's Gold or Hot List, Relais & Châteaux), or two that corroborate each other (SLH or LHW, reader-voted awards, a respected publication's feature). A brand can support the case, never make it alone, and award lists help us find hotels, not decide.
Rooms, service, privacy, food and guiding at a level a demanding traveler would call luxury for that kind of place, and a specific reason to pick it over the region's benchmarks. A weaker version of a nearby hotel doesn't make the cut.
The price you'd actually pay for the entry room, two adults, on a dated high-season night, from the hotel first and booking sites second. The line is a commercial screen, not a measure of quality: a rare, documented exception is possible and is labeled. Where no reliable rate is published, we show an estimate from the prices we can see, marked to be confirmed.
Open for 2026–27 and listed in official registries where they exist (Chile's SERNATUR, Peru's MINCETUR); bookable through travel advisors; and five years of news (fires, closures, lawsuits, owner changes), disclosed on the hotel's page. Each is its own check, apart from quality.
Per room per night for two. Rates change daily; bands reflect rates checked on 8–9 October 2026. Where only a booking site showed a price, the hotel's page says so.
Under-the-radar also takes unique stays with nice accommodations that bend the full luxury standard, for travelers who will trade a little polish for something singular; their pages say so. World-class is about hospitality, rooms, design and service at an international standard; it needs inspection-level evidence (two or more MICHELIN Keys, a Forbes Four- or Five-Star rating, or a hotel from a brand with a global luxury standard that also holds a MICHELIN Key or a Forbes rating). Destination is about the place and what you do there. Under-the-radar is about discoverability: smaller, often independent hotels, never global brands or famous icons. A hotel can sit in more than one; its main collection only sets the order.
Each country with a credible luxury stay, and each signature destination such as the Amazon, Fernando de Noronha or the Salar de Uyuni, is represented by its strongest option. Where even the best stay falls short of part of the bar, it is marked as our pick for that place, and its page says what is limited.
Researched for this edition but not in the guide. Editorial review means a decision or a missing fact is pending; every other group records why it stays out. Select a name for its research profile. Advisor view only.