Silversea Cruises' hotel on the southern tip of Chile will be named The Cormorant at 55 South. The luxury line aims to open the hotel for the 2025-26 Antarctica season.
Silversea undertook the project with an idea of increasing the comfort level for luxury travelers booking Antarctica. The hotel in Puerto Williams will be a stopping point for clients who buy Silversea's fly-cruise package. After their hotel stay, Silversea will fly guests from Puerto Williams to King George Island, enabling them to avoid cruising through the rough Drake Passage.
The Cormorant at 55 South is being billed as the southernmost hotel on Earth. Photo Credit: Silversea
Silversea is calling The Cormorant at 55 South the southernmost hotel on Earth. The name is inspired by the local natural history and the hotel's location. It sits at 55 degrees south of the equator and is named for the bird that symbolizes the seafarer in the indigenous Yahgan culture.
The hotel's 150 rooms will have handcrafted items from artisans in the region, large windows and décor featuring warm wood tones and "earthy elements," Silversea said. Guestrooms will either face the forest or the Beagle Channel. They are being constructed modularly in Mendoza, Argentina.
A rendering of a guest bathroom at The Cormorant at 55 South. Photo Credit: Silversea
Building a hotel in Puerto Williams is no easy feat.
"It's a very unforgiving, difficult place to build, but we're going through the timeline now and it's coming together," said Silversea president Bert Hernandez at the Seatrade Cruise Global conference in Miami on April 8. "We're very excited to be able to have it ready for the beginning of the 2026 Antarctica season."