Awasi Atacama
Atacama

Awasi Atacama

9.0 Rating
USD 900

Awasi Atacama

is a small but polished lodge

in the Atacama area

is a small but polished lodge in the Atacama area

fabulous geology and scenery

Set in the high desert oasis town of San Pedro de Atacama, Awasi Atacama is an intimate and very high quality lodge.

The lodge is designed to resemble a typical adobe village from this desert area, with thick walls and small windows to provide temperature stability through the hot days and cold nights, a style of building that developed from a merger of native and Spanish cultures.

The main public areas look out over a central courtyard, which has a lovely campfire and swimming pool.

It has to be said that, for a property of this stature and elevated price level, the in-village plot is very small and (some may say) the architecture is a little underwhelming. But it certainly does have the polish in the details that one would expect.

The property is a member of the Relais & Chateaux portfolio.

Rooms

Guest accommodation is in 12 adobe suites, which are arranged around the outside of the plot, each of which has a private terrace and outdoor shower.

Each room also has space for an extra child bed.

Activities

Awasi Atacama offers a range of activities, centred on explorations of the impressive scenery, with some wildlife, historic and cultural elements.

  • Vehicle safari
  • Hiking
  • Mountain-biking
  • Sand-boarding
  • Horseback riding
  • Mountain climbing

Awasi Atacama offers private guides and vehicles to all groups of guests.

The Atacama area is usually visited by air from Santiago, usually for 3-4 nights.

The area is most commonly combined with the Torres del Paine area in the south of Chile, despite the enormous distance that separates the two areas.

More adventurous travellers continue north on a private-guided overland safari, entering Bolivia and traversing the high Andes to reach the famous Salar de Uyuni.

Seasonality

The best time to visit Atacama is generally considered to be during the Oct-Apr warm dry summer season.

Atacama has a cold desert climate, with two clearly defined seasons.

During the Oct-Apr summer conditions are usually warm and very dry, with lots of sunshine. Average daytime temperatures usually reach around 27C/81F, with nighttime lows holding up around 8C/46F. Average sunshine is up around 9 hours per day, peaking in Nov-Dec.

During the May-Sep winter the weather is usually cool and very dry. Average daytime temperatures usually manage to reach around 19C/66F, with nighttime lows dropping to around 0C/32F, with regular frosts and snow cover at higher altitudes. Average sunshine remains high at around 8 hours per day.

Visitor traffic can be a real issue in San Pedro de Atacama, with the peak season running from mid-December through to around the end of February. That makes the Oct-Nov and Mar-Apr shoulder seasons appear all the more attractive.

On the 2nd of February each year the Festival de la Candelaria takes place in San Pedro, which features a large parade, with music and dancing. Obviously the town becomes very busy around this time.

Getting there

The San Pedro area is typically accessed by air from Santiago into the San Pedro de Atacama Airport, which is actually in the town of Calama about 60 km to the northwest.

It’s also possible to arrive or depart into San Pedro by means of the overland route through Bolivia, via the famous salt flats of Uyuni and, more unusually, the overland route across the high Andes to Salta in northwest Argentina.

too expensive to feature in the vast majority of trips

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