3 Best Hotels in San Pedro de Atacama, El Norte Grande

This all-inclusive hotel looks more like an estancia or even a stable from the outside, but inside spacious rooms and airy interiors look out onto the volcanoes in the distance and the friendly staff is there to help you plan your excursions in the altiplano and desert. Spend days galloping across the desert on horseback, sliding down sand dunes, hiking through canyons, and lunching at natural hot springs. In the evenings, relax by the maze of swimming pools and stop by the Explorer’s Bar to swap tales of the day's adventures over glasses of Chilean wine and cocktails. And don’t forget to glimpse skyward after sundown, enjoying the stars beneath some of the world’s clearest night skies. Explora Atacama offers three, four, and seven-day stays, with tours, meals, and drinks included.

Outside the center of San Pedro, this hotel village has the look and feel of a pueblo: a labyrinth of walkways leads you from room to room, which are each constructed with typical mud-color adobe and adorned with private terraces and often outdoor showers. Muted whites are prevalent in the guest chambers, which also have thatched roofs, thick warm comforters, and cool stone-tiled bathrooms featuring nice hot showers. Each room is different in size and style, so take a look at a couple before picking. If you are coming with children, there are family houses, too. There is also a simple restaurant on-site open for lunch and dinner.

Right behind the main plaza, Terrantai is a real gem combining the historical and modern; the historical part is a 200-year-old colonial house with high cane ceilings supported by entire tree trunks, and the modern part (constructed in 1996) opens out into a maze of river-stone walls with hidden fountains and gardens. The most picturesque parts of the hotel look onto the steeple of the church, and are bathed with evening sunlight and alive with the sound of cooing pigeons, chattering birds, and a distant Peruvian flute playing from the plaza. This is the original boutique hotel in San Pedro and is owned by a local family who opted for Indigenous designs, a tasteful small swimming pool to respect the scarcity of water, and a laid-back atmosphere. Rooms are basic, but there are little touches that make Terrantai a notch above some of the rest: a variety of teas offered all day, useful toiletries, a complimentary picnic bag, and a welcome pisco sour. The candlelit restaurant, perfect for a romantic dinner, serves international fare, although the breakfast has a touch of the local thanks to chañar cake, quinoa crackers, yerba mate, and coca leaf tea.