explora Atacama

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!