HotelChatter

Hotel Spas / Facials / Hotel Pampering / → All Tags

Five Foodie Facials We're Craving

Where: Camino Pukara, San Pedro de Atacama, Antofagasta, Chile

You know we like our fancy facials—and we’ve told you about a few we’re lusting after that use precious metals and gemstones—but we’ve been hungering (so to speak) for something a little different lately. We figured, what you put in your body is an important part of your overall health…so what you put on your body must be pretty important too. That’s why we went looking for spa treatments that use the healthiest foods on the planet to make our skin glow, and we came up with this list of the five foodie facials we’re craving.

more ›

Chile Hotels / Hotel Openings / Explora Hotels / → All Tags

Another Reason to Visit Chile : The Explora en Atacama Hotel

Where: San Pedro de Atacama, Chile

We had a little meet-and-greet with a Chile tourism rep yesterday, and he reminded us that Patagonia is home to the Explora Patagonia, an all-inclusive resort with killer views of the mountains.

But it turns out, there's a new Explora on the scene, this time in Atacama. (You'll remember Chile's northern desert from the latest season of Amazing Race.)

Aside from the reality TV tie-in--reason enough to visit!--the Explora en Atacama does its best to put jaded urbanites back in touch with nature. Just check the brochure:

Its core is a hotel built for linking man with the temporal space--present and past--and the mysteries of nature. To travel is to pass, to arrive and leave. Architecture is permanence, freedom and security.

Rates, including hyperbole, start at $1,546 for three nights. And in case you're curious, Explora is opening another hotel in Rapa Nui (Easter Island) in December 2007.

Related Stories:
· Patagonia Hotel Guide [HotelChatter]
· Explora Chile: Alpaca Style [HotelChatter]

Amazing Race All Stars / Hotels on Television / Calama Hotel Reviews / → All Tags

Amazing Race 11 Hotel Report: The Real Mos Eisely Located

Where: Toconao 460, San Pedro de Atacama, Chile

Hostería San Pedro de Atacama

It finally happened. For years we have looked for the travel equivalent of Mos Eisely spaceport--you will never find a more wretched hive of scum and villainy--and we found that equivalent in Calama Chile.

When commenters on FlyerTalk, a popular frequent flier bulletin board, were asked what place was "Hell on Earth" one commenter responded:

My vote goes to Calama, Chile. A dusty desert town of 250,000 with NOTHING! (The only plus is that its the gateway city to San Pedro de Atacama). Lots of miners, prostitutes, and stray dogs. I've talked to people that have been transferred here...and trust me they hate life!

It goes without saying that Calama Chile was the pitstop for the second leg of Amazing Race All Stars.

Hosteria San Pedro de Atacama, is a motel/hotel made of volcanic stone, in the midst of one of the most dry desert in the world, the Atacama Desert. This place isn't five star comfort, however it is a nice, basic hideout amidst the seedy underbelly of Calama. This thirty six room motel offers a nice courtyard where guest can have a beer under a shady tree, which we recommend to Kevin after having to deal with all of Drew's mounting maladies.

Related Stories:
· Hell on Earth [FlyerTalk]
· Chasing Racers: The All Star map [Jaunted]