We just returned from a trip to Argentina and Chile. We stayed at Hotel Explora in Atacama and Patagonia. In both locations we can simply say that the experience my wife and I had was simply magnificent. I had research the Explora chain after some friends had recommended it and decided to make it part of my itinerary in South America. The hotel in Atacama, while rustic, has a beautiful conception in terms of architecture, space and design. It is shocking to access the hotel through the stables, but then you realize that the design is like an country or farm home. The private area full of trees, the pools and the horses grazing is fascinating. The all inclusive concept with excursions iincluded make it easier to explore the sourrounding in great style. The food and beverages are of high quality and the service very friendly, accomodating and personable. Cristoval, Customer Service Manager, is an asset to the company. Their activities are plentiful with more than 50 excursions, but 4 days like we stayed is simply not enough. Their guides are knowlegdable, young, energetic and very pleasant. We regret having not spend more time there because we did not do high mountain climbing or full day horseback ride. The Puratama springs are superb and we were happy to see that the Hotel Explora had their own pool, while other hotels have to share their space with everybody. We highly recommend the hotel and hope to come back to Atacama for more.

The Atacama desert has some of the most spectacular scenery and hiking mountains in the world - and hence one expects the highest quality of guides and trips.

Explora Atacama delivers on this front brilliantly, with a full roster of guides who have extensive experience with guiding (more than 5+ years in most cases) and a brilliant range of hiking trips as well as other activities ranging from an on-site observatory to large stables/corral to biking to van trips for those who want lesser activities. Add to this four beautiful swimming pools, excellent service, good food and rooms and friendly people and you have an almost perfect place to stay.

I stayed at Explora Atacama four years ago for six nights and just recently for six nights; four years ago I thought it was excellent and was surprised to find it was even better this time around. Things could of course change -- it could experience the massive exodus of guides and deep declines in quality of explorations that I witnessed at Explora Patagonia. But right now this is the place to go -- it has the best guiding team one can possibly hope for - anywhere.

There are 50 rooms and a capacity for up to 100 people but the hotel property is so spread out the lodge does not feel nearly that big. The lodge and dining area is very well designed and spacious.

There are a couple of points that are important to keep in mind in terms of what this sort of hotel is for and what it is not for. Atacama is an adventure destination and if you are in your 30s or 40s and in really good shape and like hiking or mountain biking and have some experience with it, this is going to be a lot of fun. For those who are overweight or in not so good shape or older or less experienced with hiking, you need to manage expectations. The guides are young and strong and experienced -- they do things in their free time like mountain bike down volcanoes. While they do their best with less active or experienced guests, they can have difficulty fully appreciating the viewpoints of those who are less active (and keep in mind that in some place like Atacama less active may mean quite active elsewhere). Still, the staff and guides try really hard. So, while on some of the more dangerous hikes the guides are very careful people bring the right things (and will often bring two guides instead of one), the information on van trips and other trips aimed at the less active is less complete. The information on the Explora website is also sketchy on what to bring for what -- there is an assumption that people who go to these lodges do know what they are doing to a degree. You don't need to be in a great shape or to be very experienced to visit Atacama but the more you have done, the more you will enjoy and appreciate Atacama. And if you are in bad shape or completely unexperienced, there is a risk you will be disappointed.

On my recent trip on Atacama I was lucky enough to climb up Licancabur from the Bolivian side, the volcano Toco and do a number of excellent other trips. Because I wanted to climb Licancabur in a week, the hotel -- and in particular my fantastic guide Gustavo - did an excellent job putting together an acclimatisation program. It is not easy to get someone coming from sea level ready in just one week to climb 1300m starting from 4600m but Explora did this - with flying colours as I was able to reach the summit of Licancabur just
about the time of sunrise.

The other thing I'd note as an important factor is altitude - an issue magnified by the fact that Atacama is very, very dry.. While this lodge is in town at a reasonable 2500m, many of the most interesting trips are at 4000m or above. This means it is not a great idea to just come to Atacama for four days as you will not have time to acclimatise and see the really interesting things. Also the area around Atacama is vast. I'd regard a week as an absolute minimum and if you really are a serious hiker or want to really see the high altitude area and climb a number of the volcanoes, stay for 10 days or more. Some of the higher volcanoes have dangerous or difficult descents and this factor also needs to be kept in mind.

Every hotel has its time of glory - for Explora Atacama it is now. Go there.

On reflection I think this place was worth the money. The location is one of the most interesting, unique places in the world and the quality and range of excursions was truly exceptional. Our room was quite luxurious (if a bit spartan) but the common areas are quite lovely and harmonize with the surroundings. The pool is truly stunning--has to be seen to be belived and the staff are all lovely--well informed and charming young people who can't do enough to make your experience special. The only wrong note was the food. Our first night there it was exceptional and we thought we were in for quite a treat but I think they must have shifted to the "B" team for our second and third nights. While the selection and presentation was great the preparation was off--a lovely piece of sea bass overcooked and some otherwise very nice ravioli was undercooked. Nonetheless, I still highly recommend the Explora Atacama. One caution--we were a bit unprepared for the altitude. With only 2 full days to see the sights we probably pushed ourselves a bit too hard and got a big queasy. The Explora is sensitive to this and pretty good about exposing you to the altitude gradually with increasingly "higher trips" but be aware that some of them go up very high.

Explora Patagonia was perfect and we expected Atacama property to match it. Alas the service was not at par. Our wake up call was missed, the guides gave different times to meet in the lobby , the guides were switched and it was utter confusion.

The rooms and the food was nice. I wish the chefs offer something creative for vegetarians.