Has anyone used a tour company for excursions within torres del paine? i had heard bigfoot was good, but i am still waiting on a return email. If anyone has used a group they like and would recommend, i would appreciate it. we are looking for something that we could do a few areas of the park in the 4 days we will be there, with a relatively small group.
Also if anyone has hotel recs other than lago grey and explora (both booked all their summer), i would appreciate that as well. thanks!

We used Chile Nativo - http://www.chilenativo.com for a one day private excursion to the Torres del Paine, stayed in Puerto Natalas, which is a 2-3 hour drive from the park over very bumpy roads. The guide we had, Angelo, was wonderful, there are also hosterias to stay in the park which I believe are much more reasonable than Explora.

Hello blb3:

We spent a few days at Torres del Paine last winter and had a great stay at Rio Serrano. This is a first class hotel with a good dining room. Doesn't look like much from the outside but inside where we lived it was very pleasant.

Our tour dropped us by accident at the 'other' Serrano and it looked like am escape from a refuge camp. However, once they looked at our voucher, they called the correct place who then sent a vehicle or us. After that it was great. The hotels in Chile do not charge the VAT to foreigners so be sure to tell them you are fromn xxx, not Chile which they will see from your passport anyway.

Our accommodation was arranged by Argentina Escapes in Buenos Aires.

Good touring.

Woodie

Hello bib3:

My wife reminded me that our tour TO Torres del Paine was conducted by Runner.

This particular tour was very good as I already mentioned. However, Runner in Punta Arenas were not very good so my conclusion is that they have some good people and some not so good.

Woodie

thanks for all the replies! we have booked 5 days with antares patagonia, which so far has been wonderful to work with. (they always get brownie points from me when they are good email communicators) We are going in late december, so i'll post how it was when we get back.