explora Atacama

We will start with the positives- wonderful scenery, caring general staff and guides, good food and wine (the reason the rating was 2 rather than 1) but sadly management demonstrated a lack of care for us as guests, no processes when things go wrong and a poor culture.

So the first minor example- I cut my head during one of the explorations. Returning to the lodge I asked for a basic first aid kit so I could clean the wound with an antiseptic and put on a bandaid dressing. I was told that the policy was that Explora couldn’t provide anything and that I’d have to walk (no offer of a ride) to the pharmacy in town to obtain supplies, a 1 hour round trip with a cut head.

The second more major example was when our van was driven off the road during an exploration, nearly rolling down a small hill, and getting stuck in deep sand. We were at 4200m, unsheltered, the wind was strong and temperatures dropping. The guide called for help that arrived 1.5 hours later, however Explora sent a team for the vehicle ignoring us as guests. The attempt to free the vehicle failed, there was no room in the small vehicle they sent for us as the guests, and we were recommended to flag down people to see if we could get a ride back. Luckily a delightful man did stop and give our guide and the two of us a lift back to the lodge. So in short the vehicle appeared to be more of the priority compared to the guide and guests who were essentially forced to hitch hike.

Upon return to the lodge, our only request was for the manager to call the people who helped us when Explora failed and ideally recompense them for their trouble as a gesture. It has taken 3 weeks and multiple emails for Atacama to finally contact the people concerned and we have privately reimbursed them for their efforts as Explora hadn’t.

What should have been a great experience was spoiled by the lack of care of guests when things went wrong, inadequate processes and disappointingly the poor culture where saying thank you to people who help appears to be too much trouble.

Didn't find out humidifiers were available until our last day. Ask when you check in! Really suffered with the altitude and how dry it was. Loved the excursions - especially to the geyser field and the mineral spring. Also loved seeing all the animals. and the observatory. Did not care for the food. Would like more options. Staff was very helpful and friendly and guides were knowledgeable and helpful.

Amazing staff. Very personal service to cater with my dietary requirements. They really went beyond any service I have had anywhere before. It is a lovely setting with amazing activities. It is expensive but great value for money given what is on offer.

Summary: This place is an unexpected surprise for being in the desert. The lodge is in a small town that’s over an hour away from the Calama airport.

Getting here:
This was a slight mess due to my delay from Atlanta to Santiago. It caused a domino effect of me missing my Calama connection and caused me to lose a night as part of my package.

As I was able to finally connect with the hotel via WhatsApp and email they assured me they had my new flight info and would have someone meet me when I landed. This wasn’t the case. Luckily I spoke broken Spanish to a man who had a sign for Tierra Atacama and asked him if he knew anything about Explora. He said he drove for both lodges and called his boss who had to confirm with the Explora so I could hitch a ride. I wasn’t scheduled.

When I got to the lodge everyone was already leaving for morning excursions so I was only scheduled for one in the afternoon. That gave me time to walk around the property to check it out.

The explorations:
All the excursions are included. Be mindful of the altitude. It can impact how you feel. Other guests were telling me about some med they were prescribed to help them acclimate faster? Not one for taking drugs u less absolutely necessary. I figured I was fine.

These can start pretty early depending on the exploration. The UV is real so use plenty of sunblock. Layers are a must in winter as it can be chilly if not windy. It was really windy at Huayra.

Bring your own Nalgene for water. They give you one but it’s metal and can be heavy. I didn’t get one here cu I think of the messed up flight and updated pickup. All good as I got one at my next lodge 😊 They have water fill stations which is nice and snacks.

My favorite was going to Termas de Puritama because I liked the ending being in the hot springs and getting to see a vizchacha for the first time. Bring a swimsuit! The lodge has hot tubs and saunas even in winter to be used 😊

The hike to Volcán Blanco was hard but seeing vicuña was a great end.

They have an in site observatory so if you get the chance please do this as you get to see the stars so clearly and you get some hot chocolate 😊

The guides:
If you get an experienced guide this can be very informative. They have a few new guides so depending on your exploration it may be hit and miss when it came to the information provided. Example was when we went to the salt flats to see the flamingos. I asked a few very basic questions regarding migration patterns and general questions related to flamingos. Our guide didn’t know these basic questions. On other explorations such as Puritama when you get an experienced guide and you can tell how knowledgeable they are and it’s not just cookie cutter answers. Thanks Franco!

The room:
Nicely appointed with everything you need. There’s no tv for bed rot. This isn’t a place for it anyway. I even used the heater to dry socks. Works great! Highly recommended. Bring type C adapter.

If you have a noisy neighbor you will hear them through the wall. It wasn’t too bad but I think I was lucky.

The staff:
The staff is very attentive and if there’s anything you need they will do their best to help. Maha the hostess was great and so was everyone else.

The food:
The buffet spread wasn’t bad. The food could use some work especially for those that are vegan. Not a ton of options. I didn’t go hungry but it was underwhelming.

What an other worldly location the Atacama is.!And the Explora Hotel was a fab location to explore this amazing area. The rooms are comfortable. The only downside was the bath opens to the bedroom design. Seems to be a design signature of the Explora. Also there was no information concerning the fact that the pool was not heated so a wintertime visit the pool is not a useable amenity .
Activities guides were great with plenty of options including horseback riding and a small observatory on property.

Clean, spacious, excellent staff and the guides Flacco and Carolina were superb! Food and bar were great. The ability to unplug a bit was also welcome. I would go back today if I could!

We had a wonderful family experience. The food was delicious, the guides were kind and knowledgeable, and the places we visited were beautiful. The hotel service was excellent — very attentive and professional. Overall, a memorable trip

Explora Atacama is in an incredible location—truly one of the most beautiful and unique places we’ve ever visited. The team of expert guides made the experience even better. They are knowledgeable, friendly, and great at adjusting the activities to each person’s interests and fitness level.

The excursions are well designed and there’s something for everyone—from relaxing walks to more active adventures. We loved the variety!

The food was delicious, and the service throughout our stay was excellent.

The only thing we would have loved is an extra night of astronomy—we had just one, and it left us wanting more. It was such a unique and magical experience.

We’re now looking forward to discovering other Explora lodges—this was an unforgettable trip!

I went for Easter Holiday and the experience was Amazing...best trip ever.
The service, the team, the territory....everything was SUPERB!!

We had an incredible stay at Explora Atacama — truly one of the most memorable trips we’ve ever taken as a family. The lodge is stunning, blending perfectly into the landscape, and the service was warm, thoughtful, and genuinely welcoming from start to finish.

What surprised us most was how well the experience worked with children. The team made every effort to accommodate our needs, and our kids (aged 8 and 11) were absolutely captivated by the daily explorations — from geysers to flamingo-filled salt flats to stargazing under the clearest skies we've ever seen.

The guides were fantastic with the children: patient, enthusiastic, and full of stories that kept them engaged and excited. Back at the lodge, the pools, open spaces, and relaxed atmosphere gave them (and us) the perfect balance between adventure and rest.

This is a luxury experience that somehow still manages to feel down-to-earth, authentic, and family-friendly — a rare combination. Highly recommended for anyone looking to share the magic of the desert with their kids.

We’ll definitely be back!

Hotel incrível porém atendimento ruim!

An amazing way of discovering Atacama.. I stayed there 5 nights and it wasn´t enough. The guides, the food, the drinks, the staff. the views. Everything was amazing!!! They even have their own private observatory and private pool in the puritama hotsprings....

I was expecting great things from this lodge and although it was good, disappointingly it was not great.
The guides were fantastic really knew their subject matter, were engaging and really made the excursions good fun. The landscape and the diversity of the area was just fantastic and I've never been anywhere quite like it.
However the camp itself was not fantastic.
You has to book your excursions every evening so even if you thought you had organised the week's trips you had to go and confirm every evening (not sure why). We also found that they recommended trips on what had been booked rather than what we wanted to do. But saying that we never had a bad trip!

The restaurant was very hit and miss. Sometimes the staff were very efficient, one night we were waiting nearly 45 minutes for our food. However they were all very friendly! The bar staff were slow and when ordering a drink you had to wait quite a long time and additionally apart from one guy who was very engaging (sorry I can't remember your name) the others were not the friendliest.

I would recommend going to atacama definitely! I would also recommend this camp however for the money it charges I would expect the lodge itself to up its game

The premisses of the hotel is good, but the service is terríble!!!!! Some examples: the communication among the employees is awful, in One of our trip they gave us different food than the One we ordered (i am vegetarian and got chiclen - so i did not have Lunch that day after a 6.000 meter Walk in the desert and altitude of 4.000), i was not able to do a yoga class because the reception did no confirm with the teacher, we were not able to do One of our trip to the desert because the guide did not confirm as agreed with him , One of the guides was extremly unplesant with the Group, they gave us wrong infomation about the trips…and so on. There is a huge lack of trainning to the reception staff and the guides. And I did not feel the willing of them to listen to us and make our trip Nice. The restaurant is the only Part of the hotel that really wellcome the guests. I DO NOT RECOMMEND This hotel if you want to have an excellent experience in the Atacama desert. I Will be glad to discuss the sad experience i had with the hotel management if they are interested in make explora a real 5 star hotel (madrona@madronafialho.com.br)

The hotel is not worth the price at all; it is loveless and no support for whatsoever. The last day - check out at 10.00 - coming back from a tour at 12.00 - the shower is only outside with cold water.
The tours are great, but you never no what is expecting you - the guides do the very best, but the management seems not to care!

LOVED our five-day stay at Explora Atacama! Highlights were our excellent private guide, the phenomenal food, and AMAZING choice of daily activities. We loved having our own private pool at Puritama Hot Springs, the 5-mile hike near El Tatio Geysers, and our evening hike in the Rainbow Valley. Explora does an exceptional job keeping you away from the over-touristed sites, and they excel at taking good care of their guests.

In many ways our trip to Atacama was magical. We loved the different areas of the desert and it was great to be somewhere all inclusive where everything was taken care of so you could focus on the most important item, the excursions. Explora misses out on 5 bubbles from us because it wasn't perfect but it was very good.

On arrival from Calama we were collected from the airport with some other guests and arrived at Explora mid-afternoon. We were keen to maximise our stay and wanted to do a half-day excursion shortly after arrival. To their credit the staff at Explora, after greeting us with a Pisco sour, were also keen to arrange an excursion.

Before that first excursion they wanted us to sit down with a staff member and set out our excursions over the duration of our stay. One improvement I would suggest would be that once the activities are agreed, a summary should be provided to guests confirming the excursions, also with details of what clothing and equipment is necessary. It was only by chance when we were talking to a guide one evening that we realised the staff member who arranged our excursions had made an error and booked us onto the wrong one the following day. Fortunately we were able to correct the error.

The guides were generally very good, although if you couldn't keep up at the front, you were likely to miss out on conversation and information as you hiked along.

The transportation was at times difficult in terms of terrain and suspension, perhaps the transport requires some upgrading.

We thought the accommodation was disappointing, especially in the context of the cost of our stay. It's great that the accommodation is simple and traditional but it was tired, dark and not as clean as it could be. The ceiling fan needed to be on during the night, but this was right above the bed and essentially blowing in your face all night!

The biggest disappointment was the star gazing activity, the event we were looking forward to the most. Sadly for us it was a little cloudy, clearly not in the control of the staff, but the group was far too big which meant you were standing around in the observatory doing nothing as people took their turns. They need to have a rethink about this activity because it doesn't compare well to the various excursions that take place during the day.

Food was generally good and always available.

And the staff were friendly and helpful. They were also able to arrange return transport in line with our flight time.

All in all, although not perfect, we would consider using Explora again for further South American exploration.

We had very high expectations for this visit -and actually planned our trip around staying here in December 2024. The staff tried hard and some were excellent but not all. First, the excursions were top rate and the guides (except for one) were superb. They were all amazingly knowledgeable and eager to share. The star gazing was a huge disappointment. They do not let you book until you get there and once we checked in - the only availability was the last night of our 4-night stay and we were given the earlier of the two slots. That guide was in a rush - skipped the outside viewing, and then after showing our (rather large group) four stars/planets rushed out saying he had another group. He actually left our group of 4 in the planetarium questioning how to find our way back to the lodge.
Second, the meals were also very disappointing. The chef tried too hard to be fancy and failed in many of the dishes, which were mediocre at best. The simple grilled trout we had one night at dinner was the best meal. Another night, a new waiter served the wrong dishes and gave the vegetarian in our group a stew with meat.
Finally, while they do provide shuttle service to the airport - the schedules do not necessarily coincide with flight times. So while the management made out like they were going to help accommodate our flight - that did not happen. Nor did our request for a later checkout.
It's a lovely place to spend a number of days, particularly because of the wonderful guides and excursions - but there should be a better effort to maintain the 5-star rating the hotel seems to enjoy, particularly given the price!

Perfect hotel ton explore this magnificent region of Chile. We had perfect days, explorations, meals, pool time, massages, sauna.
Explorations and guides are world class. The structure of the hotel is incredible. Beautiful. Jus go to that place.
Night exploration for stargazing was remarkable. having their on stargazing room with perfect instruments really is a treat. And also would highlight the fact that the have private pools in puritama thermals.

The people are really great. The food is 'okay'- they try too hard to create usual tastes... need some simple options too.

The rooms need a major renovation. The common areas look like they were renovated but in more of a low budget way. The van's are okay but need to upgrade to sprinter van.