Tierra Atacama, Chile, Hotel Review

Imagine yourself riding your bike 11 miles into a salty turquoise lagoon to wade and float. Do you want to experience adventure? Would a 5-hour horseback trip to the Salt Mountains satisfy your desire for excitement, or would a high altitude walk in a valley with rainbow colors and a view be more appealing?

This is what my guide Paola asked me as I checked into Tierra Atacama. The Atacama Desert in Chile’s north has a lodge with 28 rooms. The property has just undergone a $20 million renovation that lasted a full year. It included a new spa, restaurant, lounge, and wine cellar. Four new suites have been created through the renovation, which were each made by combining smaller rooms. They feature luxurious features, such as indoor gas fireplaces hanging from the ceiling and private outdoor plunge swimming pools. Guests staying in these suites are also set up with a dedicated guide.

Silva guided me through the various options and then gently guided me to activities that I would enjoy without giving me an attack. No to scrambling up the slippery rocks of Las Cornices trail; yes to a scenic stroll at 11,400 feet to soak in eight hot-spring pools, some with waterfalls. I also walked across lunar-like landforms in Valle de la Luna, and ascended 14,170 feet for a view of El Tatio. It is one of the largest and highest geysers on the planet.

Tierra Atacama—part of the Baillie Lodge collection, which includes Clayoquot Wilderness Lodge, in British Columbia, and Southern Ocean Lodge, on Kangaroo Island, Australia—works with local communities, while limiting guest impact on the people and the ecosystem.

This same ethos comes through when dining at the resort, as executive chef Andrés Donoso Cancino works almost exclusively with Chilean producers and grows fruits in the hotel’s garden, including pomegranates and figs. After a lunch of creamy pea soup and yellowtail—caught on Chile’s west coast about 60 miles from the resort and pan-fried with parsley, beet greens, and quinoa—I enjoyed a refreshing cactus ice cream.

Although I had spent the day exploring the desert, I was happy to return each evening to the creature comforts of my hotel room. I used a humidifier that helped me cope with the dryness in the air. I also made tea using chamomile. rica rica, Chilean medicinal herbs can help fight altitude sickness. 

Every night at turndown, I also found a homemade gift on my bed—a handcrafted doll, soft hand-knit slippers—all made by Indigenous Chilean craftspeople. After experiencing the heights of life, I realized that it was these little things that helped me to stay grounded. 

Tierra Atacama: my complete review.

The Rooms

Tierra Atacama features 28 rooms. This includes 22 standard rooms that come in two different configurations. Oriente Rooms have terraces overlooking Licancabur Volcano (and the Andes Mountain Range) and larger Poniente Rooms which offer Cordillera de la Sal views. The hotel has four suites. During the renovations, two guest rooms of standard size were combined into each suite. There are also bi-level apartments that have three beds and 3 baths. The suite was 753 square feet and had a king bed, a large, open living area with a gray metal gas fireplace suspended from the ceiling, a modular couch, and a multi-purpose desk/sideboard. It also featured an oversized, double-sink bathroom, with both indoor and outdoor rain showers. The thermostat on the wall allowed me to turn on the underfloor heating in my room.

The colors in my room and all the rooms of the hotel reflected the Atacama Desert. Bed frame and desk were reminiscent of the black-blue night sky of Atacama and tiled floors reminded me of desert sands. The furniture in the hotel was made by Chilean craftsmen, and the artwork is based on constellations. Vera Cosmetica is a local company that created bath products using ingredients from the entire region, including rica rica.

All the suites as well as some standard rooms are marketed for their floor-to-ceiling views of Cerro Toco and Licancabur Volcano. There are no TVs in any of the rooms. It’s not necessary, with all the stars and nature that is on display. My suite also had a large outdoor patio with unheated plunge pool—a bit too cold for me to partake in—plus a day bed and chairs to enjoy that stunning volcano view during the daylight, when the roof covering retracts, or at night, when I started up the gas fireplace to stay comfortable in the chilly desert air.

Food and Drink

Tierra Atacama has only one restaurant, where I ate every day, for breakfast, during the two-hour lunch break between half-day tours, and dinner. The breakfast is basic (with the option to order hot dishes) but the restaurant really shines at the multi-course lunches or dinners. Chef Donoso Cancino, along with his team, creates new menus every day, with options for meat, fish, and vegetables. Though the menu repeats each week (and is entirely revamped twice a year), most guests—including myself—stay an average of four nights, so you’ll never see the same dish twice. Cancino can also change items at a moments notice, for example, if the rockfish was fresher than the seabass that day.

The creamy avocado-corn soup with the seasonal flowers was my favorite. Also, the marinated oysters from the north with seaweed and a spicy citrusy sauce were a close second. acevichada Yellow pepper, yellow sauce and yellow sauce. I especially loved that local herbs and plants appear in desserts at least once a day; my top pick was chañar ice cream, made from the fruit of the deciduous chañar tree, with an addictive caramel flavor. And though most days I came back to the hotel for lunch in between my morning and afternoon excursions, I got a special treat during my full-day excursion to the geysers: a picnic lunch spread, complete with Chilean wine, set up by my guide at a remote, scenic spot along the route filled with grazing, playing vicuñas, the adorable cousins to alpacas.

Two times a month, the staff of the restaurant prepares meats outside on the huge grill. I recommend the lamb, which is sourced locally and served with delicious couscous.

The bar is located off the lobby, and I highly recommend trying the rica-rica sour. The bar is open until late but you might be the only person drinking because it’s an early-to bed, early-to rise kind of place. The robust wine list leans toward mainly Chilean with a touch of Argentinian and Uruguayan, with a number of choices available by the glass; many nights I opted for Chile’s sweetheart wine, Carménère.

Activities and Experiences

Each excursion has been rated as easy or medium by the hotel. The majority of excursions last half a day, while others like the Tatio Giesers and Piedras rojas (Red Stones) take a full-day. And you can choose your mode of transport—walking, biking, or horseback riding—depending on the activity and your comfort level.

The guides were excellent at matching you up with activities that match your interests and fitness level. Guides do an excellent job in matching your fitness level and interests with the right activities. They plan excursions that help you acclimate better to the altitude throughout your trip. This is why I started at the 7,556 feet salt flats before moving on to the 14,000+ feet geysers.

This is a truly amazing experience if your visit coincides when the skies are clear enough for stargazing (i.e. there’s no full Moon). Then, you drive 15 minutes into the desert and use high-powered telescopes to gaze up at the stars for two hours. This summer, the hotel will open a new observatory on the premises to allow guests to view the beautiful constellations without having to leave the property.

The resort doesn’t offer many activities because most guests go out on excursions early in the morning, around 8 or 9, and then head to bed immediately after dinner. The yoga class I attended, which was held daily at 6:30 pm, focused on gentle stretches and was a great way to relax after a busy day.

The Spa

The Uma Spa, with its 5,380 square feet of space, is the perfect place to unwind and relax after a long day of exploring. I started with a signature Ckapín Massage in one of the three treatment rooms (two for individuals and one for couples), a combination deep massage/relaxation treatment that soothed my sore muscles and stimulated my senses with an aromatherapy mixture of almond, lavender, and orange oils. After a few minutes in the sauna, steam room, and outdoor hot tub, I went to the heated indoor swimming pool. I skipped the outdoor swimming pool because it is not heated, and would be better for warmer temperatures during the day. It was a quiet place, because many people were dining. However, I recommend visiting during the day, to enjoy the spectacular views.

There is a brand new gym in the spa, with ellipticals and bikes as well as weight machines and free weights. The spa is a beautiful space and I am a gym-hobby, but fitting it in with all the other activities was difficult, unless one can get up early.

Family Friendly Offerings

Tierra Atacama is only open to kids over 10 years old. During my visit there were several families with children in the tween/teen range. There is no children’s club at the hotel, nor are there any child-friendly activities or a large pool. Guides recommended other activities which might be more appealing to active children. These included biking in Devil’s Gorge and walking through Rainbow Valley.

The two apartments offer the best accommodation for families with children. They have two bedrooms, each with two singles, and multiple bathrooms. There is also extra space to allow a family to spread themselves out without being in each other’s way. Suites would also work well with cots in the room.

Accessibility, Sustainability and Sustainability

Solar panels and batteries hybrid systems provide 60 percent of Tierra Atacama’s energy requirements. They have their own reverse osmosis system to treat the water, so that they don’t have to use San Pedro de Atacama water. The hotel doesn’t use single-use plastics in guest rooms, and every guest gets a Tierra-branded water bottle in the room—a great gift to take home with you—with refillable water stations by the bar near the lobby. Each night, filtered water in glass containers is placed next to the bed.

Tierra Atacama is in compliance with Chilean laws regarding wheelchair accessibility. There is a wheelchair-friendly room with wider doors for both the entrance and bathroom, a sink that’s lower for easy access, grab bars in the shower, and an adjustable angle mirror. There are ramps throughout the main building and the Oriente Rooms are located on the ground floor for easy access. Near the lobby, there is a bathroom with grab bars and a wide-opening door.

Tierra Atacama has no vehicles adapted for wheelchairs (no lift, for example), and there is also no lift to get people in or out of the pool or jacuzzi. This means that guests will either need to be mobile or travel alongside someone who can help. I personally would not recommend the hotel or even the destination itself for people with mobility issues, unless they want to spend a significant amount of time at the hotel, since most of the excursions—which are the meat-and-potatoes of an Atacama visit—are not accessible.

Location

El Loa Airport in Calama is the closest airport to reach the Atacama desert. Many direct two-hour flights leave Arturo Merino Benitez Airport in Santiago on a daily basis. LATAM Airlines, Sky Airline. JetSMART. The hotel offers free transfers from Calama to San Pedro de Atacama. Along the way, you’ll pass by beautiful rock formations and lunar landscapes. Once guests arrive at the hotel they can use the guides and transportation to visit all the sites.

Tierra Atacama can be found on the outskirts San Pedro de Atacama. The ancient town has dusty streets, adobe structures and many adobe-built buildings. Shop for jewelry made with the local lapis stone and try an ice cream. Heladería Babalú Made from local ingredients such as chañar The following are some examples of how to get started: ayrampo.

What to Expect from Your Stay

Tierra Atacama belongs to Priceless by MastercardMastercard cardholders can take advantage of exclusive offers. Tierra Atacama offers nightly rates starting at $1,870, which includes all meals, beverages, and excursions.