Family Fun in Chile’s Atacama Desert

People use San Pedro de Atacama as their hub to tour the surrounding Atacama desert. Distances are long, and the terrain is rugged, so it makes sense to have a luxurious home base each night to finish your day. Nayara Alta Atacama is your answer!

Getting there:

You will most likely fly into Calama airport (with multiple flights a day to Santiago). From there we were greeted by a hotel representative, given our reusable water bottles (the hotel has a big emphasis on sustainability), and led to our cool air-conditioned car for the ride to the hotel. We did not have to lift a finger in the entire process.

View from the hotel looking out to the valley

Walking the expansive grounds

View from the hot tub

Service and food:

There is no way anyone will go hungry at Nayara Alta Atacama. Not only was the food bountiful, the quality is what impressed me. In addition to feeding my wife and I until we were going to burst, they catered to my children’s more “picky” palette. My kids lived on steak frites most nights for dinner, and my four-year-old would often ask for more steak. While it got cold at night (we were there in their winter), a warm fireplace and blankets helped everyone enjoy their class of wine and hors d’oeuvres in cozy comfort. The staff welcomed us by name each day and seemed to truly enjoy their interactions with guests.

A special shout-out goes to the grounds crew who would meet my children at the stable with the hotel’s resident llamas and alpacas. Each time we went there, they would let our kids feed the animals; a feature my kids would talk about long after the trip.

One of the many hand crafted cocktails

Dinner from one of our evenings

Rooms:

Rooms are spacious and use materials and colors from the surrounding landscape. This makes each room naturally transition from the indoors to the outdoors. Every room has a terrace looking out to the valley in which the hotel is located.

Activities:

While the hotel is beautiful, people come to this part of Chile to explore the Atacama Desert. The hotel offers an expansive range of activities for a variety of fitness levels. Each activity lists the length of time, physical output necessary, and required clothes. The activities director works with each guest to plan their activities to make sure they get the most out of their stay in the desert. A favorite excursion of ours was the Chaxa Lagoons salt flats with wild flamingos and volcanoes in the distance.

Overall, if the Atacama Desert is on your bucket list, this is the perfect property to bring your family to enjoy the region without sacrificing luxury.

The Chaxa Lagoon salt flat

Feeding the llamas!

San Pedro de Atacama is just shy of 8,000 ft above sea level. Don’t rush your time necessary to acclimatize.

For more inspiration and insider recommendations, visit our Chile page.