HotelChatter

HotelChatter got there before the crowds - okay, so crowds are unlikely - with a three-night stay by Monica. She came back with a dreamy smile on her face and a flower chain round her neck. If you're sitting at work and need to escape, get there now.

The Concept
The Explora concept is not new. They have two luxury hotels in the Atacama desert and the Torres del Paine park in Chilean Patagonia. Before the opening of the Posada de Mike Rapu, Explora had a base in some rented houses in Easter island's only town of Hanga Roa.

Basically, you pay a hefty sum for an all-inclusive luxury stay, including all (gourmet) food, (top quality) drinks, transfers, tours and the rest. The only thing you'll pay for is a souvenir keyring from the shop and to have your knickers cleaned.

The Hotel
The hotel is set high up on a mound towards the south side of the island, a few kilometers away from the town. It's built to blend in, with spacious, rounded architecture, large stone walls and pillars of volcanic rock, wooden roofs and a covered bar and breakfast area. Rough and ready yet still reeking style, from its unpainted wooden furniture and bumpy walls to its unkempt grassy surroundings and stepping-stone paths.

There are only 30 rooms, all comfortable, complete and gorgeous. Huge, full-length windows from which you can watch the sun rise over the ocean. Waterfall showers and baths the size of swimming pools.

The Food

The hotel bar.

The restaurant's a gourmet affair, serving unrecognizable but delicious fresh fish and seafood and local specialties including mashed beans and plantain. Hotel staff and waiters remember your name before you do, and know exactly what you want to drink and how you like it. Lots of white plates and clinking glasses. Good wines, selected according to the menu. Top quality drinks in the free bar. This ain't for riff-raff.

The Moai
You don't stay here just for the luxury, however, although if you do, you won't be disappointed. What you've come all the way to Easter Island for is to see the Moai, huge stone statues tens of meters high and scattered all over the island.

No-one knows how the original inhabitants got to Easter Island and why they decided to use so much time and energy quarrying these monsters, placing them in lines on stone ahu platforms overlooking each tribe's village. No-one knows how on earth they transported the statues either, which weigh hundreds of tons. Although the fact so many can still be seen fallen by the wayside indicates they weren't much good at it.

The Tours
The Explora's tours are the selling point of the stay. The young, fluent, enthusiastic guides know everything you want to know and more. Except for the bits no-one knows, although even then, they have their ideas. Tours aren't guided tours in the bus-trip sense of the term - they're meticulously planned according to the group (maximum eight of you), the weather and the time of day and year. You'll see the best bits of everything when the other tourists aren't there to bother you.

The Bottom Line
There must be something bad, right? Well, the WiFi's dodgy. TVs don't exist. Actually, that's great. Who sends emails or watches the box when you're on a magical place like this? They change the towels too often, but that's our pet hate.

We found something bad on the website - the rates. Remember this price includes all food, drink, tours and transfers, then check when your payrise is due and start saving: 3 nights in a double room costs US$1,794 or US$2,334 per person, depending on room. From July 2008, rates rise to US$2,097 or US$2,730.

It's a once-in-a-lifetime thang. Go for it.