The Australian luxury lodges going global

Few Australian travellers would instinctively link Baillie Lodges with Chile’s remote desert and Patagonian wilderness. Yet that connection has existed for several years, with both Baillie Lodges and Tierra Hotels owned by US-based investment firm KSL Capital Partners.

Now, with the launch of a new global brand, the relationship is being brought firmly into focus. Baillie Lodges has officially rebranded as Beckons, a move that folds its Australian-born portfolio together with South America’s Tierra Hotels under a single international identity.

While Baillie’s Australian properties – Longitude 131° in the Northern Territory, Southern Ocean Lodge on South Australia’s Kangaroo Island, Silky Oaks in Queensland – are well known locally, the Tierra Hotels portfolio in Chile may have largely flown under the radar for this market. Under Beckons, those South American lodges are no longer a side note; they are central to the brand’s global narrative.

Tierra Patagonia in Torres del Paine National Park features architecture designed to disappear into the landscape. Inside, floor-to-ceiling windows frame guanacos moving across the steppe and the jagged Paine massif beyond. It’s a place where luxury is less about thread count (though expect the best) and more about proximity to raw nature.

Further north, Tierra Atacama is set within one of the driest places on Earth, the Atacama Desert. Adobe walls, local materials and open courtyards blur the line between shelter and landscape.

Chile’s appeal is increasingly global. The country welcomed more than 5.2 million international visitors in 2024, a jump of about 40 per cent year-on-year, with Patagonia and the Atacama among its fastest-growing drawcards. Against that backdrop, these lodges are not just remote outposts, but part of a broader shift towards experience-led travel in South America.

Like Baillie properties, both have earned international acclaim. Baillie Lodges, founded in Australia, built its reputation on access to extraordinary locations, from the red centre to Kangaroo Island, while Tierra Hotels developed a parallel philosophy in Chile, combining bold architecture with deeply immersive landscapes.

At launch, Beckons comprises nine lodges spanning Australia, New Zealand and the Americas, each with an average of about 25 suites. The new brand leans into regenerative travel, luxurious, yes, but with a stated aim of creating a positive impact on landscapes and communities.

It’s a concept that resonates particularly strongly in South America, where fragile ecosystems and cultural heritage are often central to the visitor experience, and where tourism is increasingly tied to conservation outcomes.

Behind the branding is significant investment. About $US100 million ($144 million) has been spent across the portfolio in recent years, including major refurbishments of Tierra Atacama and New Zealand’s Huka Lodge, as well as the high-profile rebuild of Southern Ocean Lodge following the 2019 bushfires.

In Chile, this reinvestment signals a long-term commitment to the region as a cornerstone of the Beckons identity. Planned enhancements, including new premium suites at Tierra Patagonia, suggest the South American lodges will play a growing role in attracting global travellers.

See beckons.com