Puerto Williams, Chile - a small naval town on the Beagle Channel at 55 degrees south - is now home to the most southerly hotel on the planet. Silversea cut the ribbon on The Cormorant at 55 South on November 5, a 150-room property that will serve as the pre- and post-cruise base for every guest on the line's Antarctica Fly Cruise programme.
This is a first for Silversea and its parent, Royal Caribbean Group: a land-based hotel, built in-house to ship-style service standards. The engineering story alone is worth knowing - every room was prefabricated in Mendoza, Argentina, then hauled across the Andes and Patagonia to the southern tip of Chile. Interiors lean on the region, with three large works by Chilean artists (a steel lobby sculpture by Paola Vezzani, a mural by Cata Flaño, and seventy handcrafted ceramic stones by Javier Canales) and menus built around Patagonian and Tierra del Fuego ingredients.
The food and drink programme is genuinely local rather than generic luxury. Latitude 55, the restaurant, serves family-style dinners modelled on the asado tradition. Bar Sur pours Chilean wines from north to south and cocktails anchored on calafate berry and pisco, with tastings and a guided pisco experience on offer. There's also a fireside lounge, because of course there is at this latitude.
Why it matters for travellers: flying to Antarctica instead of crossing the Drake Passage by ship has always been the appeal of Silversea's Fly Cruise format, and the hotel smooths the logistics. Guests now fly non-stop from Silversea's private terminal in Santiago to Puerto Williams, overnight at The Cormorant before and after sailing, then board in the world's southernmost city. Through March 2027, Silver Endeavour, Silver Wind and Silver Cloud will run 40 voyages, including 29 Fly Cruise departures, with itineraries from six to 21 nights reaching the Antarctic Peninsula plus South Georgia and the Falklands.
Puerto Williams itself is quietly rewarding beyond the hotel. Guests can kayak the Beagle Channel, walk the shoreline trails at Seno Lauta, and ride horseback inland - with decent odds of spotting cormorants, dolphin gulls and upland geese. Keen hikers should also note the nearby Dientes de Navarino trek, one of the southernmost marked trails in the world.
If Antarctica has been on your list but the two-day Drake crossing was the dealbreaker, this hotel-plus-fly setup is now the most polished version of the shortcut. It's a luxury product at luxury prices, but as far as gateways to the White Continent go, this one now comes with a fireplace, a sommelier and a view over Patagonian water.
