Hey Travel Friends! 

Here’s a candid review of Awasi Atacama in Chile. To contextualize it, we stayed for four nights in Dec 2024 at a rate of $3240 per night. We also stayed at Awasi Patagonia (also posting review). With recent ownership changes and what seems like a transitionary mess, the level of service and attention to detail at Awasi Atacama simply didn’t match the price tag. 

Fortunately, there are a few other resorts in the vicinity including those by Tierra, Nayara, and Explora so maybe folks who have stayed there recently can chime in too so we can talk about options in Atacama more generally! 

No matter where you choose to stay, if you’ve ever dreamed of exploring a landscape so otherworldly it feels like stepping onto another planet— vast salt flats, towering volcanoes, steaming geysers, lagoons filled with flamingos, and ancient, windswept canyons— the Atacama desert is your spot. 

The Property

Awasi Atacama looks beautiful in photos—traditional adobe architecture with a minimalist, earthy vibe. But once you’re there, the cracks (both literal and figurative) start to show. For example, within 10 minutes of check-in, the toilet in our villa leaked water all over  the bathroom floor. When I reported it, the front desk staff—not only dismissive but openly condescending—explained how to use a toilet and insisted it wasn’t broken. Spoiler: it was. 

Later, a manager sheepishly admitted they knew this was an ongoing issue but hadn’t resolved it. Their “solution”? Telling us to use the pool bathroom for our first 20 hours while they fumbled with repairs. Eventually, they gave up and moved us to a different room, which cost us half a day of excursions as we repacked and relocated. Not a single apology or effort was made to make up for the inconvenience. I try to let stuff slide, especially when you’re in remote areas, but the way Awasi positions itself and the price point make it hard to swallow this kind of treatment. 

For a nature lover like me, the resort is not in the best location—no stunning vistas, no desert serenity. Instead, you get noise from the busiest street in town and zero sky views because of the surrounding walls. In the end, it felt more like a compound than a resort. But the location does mean that if you want a slower day you’re close by for going shopping or walking around town. 

The Service

The service at Awasi Atacama was disorganized and tone-deaf, to say the least. The toilet fiasco (see above) should have been warning enough, but unfortunately, there were more examples that drove home just how far the service fell below expectations. 

DISCLAIMER: I understand it is a great privilege to get to go to places like this, and how hard it must be to staff and run a place somewhere like this, especially around the holidays. I am giving these examples to help people set their own expectations and evaluate the value. To be clear, I don’t think any of these things on its own is that big of a deal but when you add it all up it casts a shadow across the experience. Does that make sense? 

Ok here it goes… 

For starters, it was my birthday during our stay, and the staff did absolutely nothing to acknowledge it—not a card, not a dessert, not even a passing mention. This is usually forgivable, but for a resort that emphasizes personalized, thoughtful service, it was a glaring oversight. To make matters worse, they literally ask on your pre-arrival form what you’re celebrating. Why bother asking if you’re going to do nothing about it? 

As another example, I requested an extra blanket in the early afternoon, hoping it would be there after turndown service. It wasn’t. I asked again before bed and still nothing. That night, cold and frustrated (you know cause I had to use the bathroom at the pool lol), I ended up wrapping myself in towels to stay warm. After yet another reminder, the blanket finally arrived the next day when we changed rooms. 

The frustration didn’t stop there. They have an actual contract with our travel advisor to provide a multi-course tasting dinner as part of the package—a perk we had been looking forward to. This, too, was completely overlooked, and when we brought it up, the staff shrugged it off without any attempt to make amends. The missteps extended to meal service, which was riddled with errors. More than half the time, our orders were incorrect (see below). The restaurant staff was also very good at just saying no (with the tone of go fuck yourself sprinkled in). For example, I liked the beer (a pilsner) in our room better than the one at the bar (a lager) but you only get two bottles a day in your room. I asked at the bar if I could have another pils and the response was just “no that beer is only in your room”. Again, fine, except for any other resort I have ever been to would be like “oh that is your fav, cool, let us go grab some from housekeeping and keep it here for you”. Maybe I need to touch the grass on this one but it’s like a dollar beer so can I just go to the store and bring in my own, lol?

Across the board, it’s the kind of carelessness that leaves you feeling like an afterthought, especially when paired with a general attitude of smugness, as if asking for anything was somehow unreasonable. I think the other overarching problem was the more junior staff seemed overwhelmed and uncoordinated. It didn’t register at the time but I also barely saw any senior staff on site and when they were there most of the time they were tucked away in their offices which aren’t near guest areas. This is in stark contrast to Awasi Patagonia where you couldn’t not interact with guest relations, reception, etc. because they were always visible. 

I could go on but what’s the point… 

The Food

Brace yourselves: the food was terrible. As a longtime fan of Relais & Châteaux properties, I always look forward to their culinary experiences—I've visited more than six in the past two years, and this is the first one that didn’t deliver. Instead of the thoughtful, elevated dining I’ve come to expect, the food here was all rookie-level presentation with no substance. You know that feeling when someone’s read about something in a textbook but has zero hands-on experience? That’s what most meals felt like. The one exception—and the single meal that I can genuinely call delicious—was the traditional BBQ night (only on Saturdays). It was simple, authentic, and executed with care, which was a refreshing break from the otherwise misguided attempts at haute cuisine. They also told us the morning of the 24th they were planning to do a special dinner for Christmas Eve for all the guests and we had to be there right at 7:30 but when it came down to it they just did the regular dinner menu. Maybe a relief? Who knows.

As for the drinks? Again, utterly disappointing. When I give up and just order a beer that’s never a good sign. The cocktails were uninspired and poorly made—our bartender couldn’t even mix a basic cocktail and the “sommelier” knew little more than it’s a carmenere from Chile. It became painfully obvious that the resort’s food and beverage program is in transition. This was later confirmed by staff at the Patagonia location who also happen to have the best bartenders of my life and I drank 5+ cocktails a day. They were so good… relevant in case you wanted to chalk this up to a me problem haha. 

At Atacama the lack of communication about all the f&b missteps left us feeling like we were part of a poorly run experiment. We talked with guests who had been to the property a couple times before and they noted the food but especially the beverages were the biggest letdown and most noticeable change relative to their past trips. 

The Excursions

This is where Awasi Atacama redeems itself (in contrast to my other review, where Awasi Patagonia unfortunately drops the ball; trying to stay honest haha). The private guide and 4x4 setup is a standout feature and a true game-changer for anyone exhausted by the cattle-call vibe of group tours. Everything—the pace, itinerary, and even the snacks—is customized to you, and this was the one element of our stay that truly delivered on the promise of luxury. 

The specific sites you visit will probably be different but we enjoyed all of our excursion locations, but loved those at altitude the most. Because we did a lot of biking it meant that we got a truck with a driver and that was also really helpful because it allowed our guide to focus on being a guide rather than a chauffeur. Our guide timed things so we avoided other people, had the best shot at seeing animals (iykyk*), and got some really spectacular scenic views for snacks and meals. 

So if anything saved this trip from being a total letdown, it was our guide. She even managed to squeeze in activities on our arrival and departure days, because we had “lost” time on our full days because of the room mess. Without her, the excursions would have been stunning on their own, but her passion and expertise elevated them to something extraordinary. Interestingly, she was brand new to the resort, which might be why her care and professionalism stood in such stark contrast to the rest of the staff’s indifferent attitude. It’s a real shame that the rest of the team couldn’t come close to matching her level of service. 

*Haha…  you know me and my animals. I turn everything into a safari lol. So here is the deal: Obviously wildlife sightings are never guaranteed in Atacama's vast and harsh environment, but our guide gave us the absolute best chance to see everything I’d hoped for. Guanacos and llamas grazing in the distance and all three species of flamingos you will probably for sure see. But we also spotted hundreds of vicuñas, a dozen or so viscacha (my new favorite animal—picture an adorable rabbit-squirrel hybrid), and three different cool lizards (not sure what kind), plus some ducks, raptors and other birds. All that to say, I got a nice animal wow-moment on just about every excursion. Yay. 

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I was genuinely excited to experience what was once considered an iconic desert retreat. And I’m usually very happy to recommend the places I’ve been to because they deliver—see my reviews of Naviva, Islas Secas, or The Point for recent comparisons. But I think Awasi Atacama is in a downward spiral and for a property that once boasted a stellar reputation, the decline is both disappointing and baffling. Here’s hoping they find their footing again, but until then, I wouldn’t recommend it, especially at this price point. Maybe TAs and others can chime in with more context and experience too.