Five-Star Hotels for Gorgeous Scenic Hikes
- Danielle Dybiec
- Aug 5
- 4 min read
Chile's Atacama Desert is the driest nonpolar desert in the world, and when I finally make it there one day, I know I'll want to stay in five-star luxury to rest and recover from seeing all its wondrous scenery. Hiking through desert sand is definitely a workout! Which is your favorite type of place to trek: desert, beach, or mountains? We've got a hotel for you in each of them!
No lodge-hopping necessary. While the promise of a hot shower or cold pint at the end of the day might be enough to motivate some hikers, imagine trekking to a gourmet picnic lunch at the edge of a hot spring or receiving a post-hike reflexology treatment beside a soothing waterfall. These rewards and more await at a crop of Virtuoso hotels offering hiking retreats right at their doorsteps, with plush accommodations, multicourse meals, and amenities that leave travelers rejuvenated and ready for another day outdoors. Most importantly, the properties work with knowledgeable guides, so adventure seekers can simply lace up their boots and follow the way. Here, discover three trips suited to hiking novices and experienced trekkers alike.
Create Mindful Connections to Nature in Hawaii
“Nature has the power to heal us in so many ways – it nourishes us and creates the space for rest after,” says David Palumbo, a naturalist guide at Sensei Lanai. The 96-room Four Seasons resort just launched a five-night hiking retreat with dates throughout the year; a similar program will pop up in 2025 at Sensei’s Porcupine Creek outpost in Rancho Mirage, California. These retreats are a natural fit for the brand, which takes a holistic, three-pronged approach to well-being: move, nourish, and rest.
Guests head out in a small group on three hikes, which wind through forests of Cook pines and along red-dirt bluffs or follow old pineapple-plantation roads hemmed by the Kanepuu Preserve, one of the last tracts of native dryland forest on Lanai. Along the route, guides offer cultural interpretations of the landscape, highlighting landmarks steeped in history and legend. It’s a side of the island that locals are excited to share: “We’ve been trying to get hiking going for a while here to show people a deeper side of the island and the slow life of Lanai,” local guide Casey Dombrigues says.
After a day on Lanai’s windswept ridges, hikers can revive tired feet with a reflexology or aquatic-therapy treatment inside a spa hale: a private chalet with waterfall-fed pools. Later, guests refuel at Sensei by Nobu by chasing buttery miso black cod and whitefish tempura with minerally white wine and coconut sorbet. Throughout the retreat, Sensei guides, nutritionists, fitness instructors, and mindset coaches – who offer a neuroscience-backed approach to meditation and breathwork – strengthen travelers’ experience in nature.
Hike through History in the Canadian Rockies
Impossibly blue glacial lakes, vast tracts of green alpine forest, and exhilarating mountain ascents mark the landscape of Banff National Park in the Canadian Rockies, which draws hiking and climbing enthusiasts from around the globe. Perched on the aquamarine shores of Lake Louise, the storied Fairmont Chateau Lake Louise opened more than 100 years ago as a base for European alpinists. Today, the 539-room hotel continues its long history of mountaineering with a year-round Mountain Adventure Program.
The flexible itinerary provides access to trailheads that start right from the hotel and carve through the surrounding mountains. Led by expert adventure guides privately or in a small group, travelers opt for half- or full-day hikes, including a 4.5-mile climb through pine forest to the historic Lake Agnes Tea House, built in 1901 as a hiking refuge for Swiss mountaineers. The more rigorous nine-mile Plain of Six Glaciers trek traverses a rocky glacial moraine with panoramic views of surrounding peaks.
In the winter months, explore the ice-hardened rivers and waterfalls of Johnston Canyon, or snowshoe at night while stargazing around the lakeshore. Return to the lodge for an Iconic Peak cocktail (signature rye, smoked tea, and aromatic bitters) overlooking the lake at the elegant Fairview Bar & Restaurant, before tucking into hearty plates of elk steak or bison tenderloin.
Traverse Otherworldly Landscapes in Chile
Torres del Paine in southern Patagonia may be Chile’s best-known trekking destination, but northern Chile’s Atacama Desert is a worthy pilgrimage for hiking enthusiasts. At the 50-room Explora Atacama in San Pedro de Atacama, guests hike through Martianlike landscapes in the driest place on earth. In the Mars Valley, travelers can tread barefoot down mountainous dunes at sunset surrounded by the Salt Mountains, with sand that’s soft as silk underfoot.
Explora’s nearly 18,000-acre Puritama Conservation Reserve – created to protect a biodiverse area that’s home to the endangered Andean mountain cat – takes hikers along the Puritama River, once part of an ancient Inca caravan route called the Qhapaq Ñan. During the Inca Empire, traders would use the road to sell llamas, potatoes, and quinoa, traveling from Bolivia to San Pedro de Atacama and eventually reaching the Pacific coast. Vestiges of stone corrals and colcas (storehouses) dot the hillsides between towering cardón cacti. The hike ends at a series of hot springs, where guests can steep in the steaming waters to ease sore muscles before enjoying a picnic lunch paired with a Chilean sauvignon blanc.
Back at the lodge, rooms face the snowcapped Licancabur volcano – as does the restaurant. Sip a pisco sour on the terrace while preparing for chef Virgilio Martínez’s desert-inspired dinner, which highlights meat and fish cooked with wild local plants, including cachillullo and rica rica, paired with peppery red carménère and enjoyed against a desert-sunset backdrop.
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Danielle Dybiec
Founder & President
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