Natural reserve Huilo Huilo in the south of Chile is home to more than 80,000 hectares of temperate rainforest. After a long history of unregulated logging, since 1996, the area has been subject to a private conservation initiative. This includes tourist facilities with a unique architecture and variety of services, which have been recognized for promoting sustainable tourism, but are also facing various environmental and social challenges. This paper first reviews the context of national tourism, environmental development and sustainable construction, and then characterizes this reserve and the trajectory of interventions made therein. Subsequently, the building conditions and architectural configuration of the tourist resort and the visitor experience are examined. Various academic and public questions raised by the installation are explored, in particular regarding the conservation of the forest, the participation of local people, energy supply and consumption, and social segmentation, as well as the symbolism of Huilo Huilo's architecture, spatial planning and building technology. Finally, the relationship between natural conservation and tourism management are discussed and the barriers and opportunities that these entail are examined.