Hard Road Atacama Hotel — Hotel in San Pedro de Atacama

The culture shock of entering San Pedro de Atacama in Northern Chile may not prepare you for the accommodations in the town. The main shopping streets in the town centre are narrow dirt tracks and not at all what you would expect from a tourist centre. |So it seemed a bit strange that the Hard Road Hotel was also down a dirt track. You are left thinking you will be spending the night in a barn. In fact, past the entry gate, the hotel opens up into a more open and more modern (relatively) space where the rooms are located. Many are surrounding the pool, which when I was there in mid-April, wasn’t very inviting and had a bit of a smell. |The room though was more than adequate – large enough and with a decent bathroom. The bed was a good size and comfortable. And the receptionist, though not speaking any English, was as helpful as she could be.|Breakfast is included but since I was leaving the following morning before breakfast, I was given a packed ration the night before, consisting of a sandwich, some yoghurt, a muesli bar and a banana. |There are no services at the hotel beyond breakfast. Even water must be taken from the breakfast area in glasses. There is no drink machine or any food available. For that you have to leave the hotel and walk about 400 metres to the town centre, where there are ample food and drink options. The town does feel a little seedy, so it may be an idea not to stay too long after sunset.|Once you become accustomed to the whole wild west feel of the town, the Hard Road Hotel has a convenient location and sufficient positives to be considered if staying in San Pedro de Atacama. |Check out my other reviews of places, hotels and experiences throughout...

This is a newer hotel (or I guess it used to be called something else). It confuses people, since this is a very small town, so they are unfamiliar with the location.||||Pros: The rooms themselves are really nice. They are spacious, nice materials used, and beds are comfy and clean. There are only like 14 rooms, and also a pool. The staff was friendly and helpful. The did not speak great english, but got out their phones to help translate. Fridge in the room.||Cons: Our toilet kept not flushing or running water, so we switched rooms. The lighting in the bathrooms is awful. With both lights on, it did not even illuminate the space, let alone my face, and i was unable to put on my makeup! We did not have any hot water after the 1st day, so I was unable to take a shower!! The breakfast was really disappointing. Awful really. It was a plate pre-set out for each person that included one piece of bread, a few pieces of cut up cantelope, warm yogurt that was sitting out, and juice. This hotel was also a little bit off the beaten path, and without any lights. Thankfully, my husband had a flashlight, or we would have been screwed trying to walk the long, uneven dirt road back in pitch black (kind of scary too if you are alone!) Since it seems that they are still working on the hotel, when we were there, we did not have a TV...

A lovely new lodge not too far from the town, but far enough to feel like you're away from the hustle and bustle of the town Centre.|We arrived early one morning after a long overnight flight, so there was no one at reception, and it was a bit of a struggle to find someone to check us in. On finding someone, she could only speak Spanish (pretty much the norm here) but we resolved our issues amicably via Google Translate:)|We could only check in at 3pm, but were able to leave our luggage at reception while they got the room ready and we just had to bide our time by exploring the town in the meantime.|Our room was a good size, clean and comfortable. The bathroom was a bit small but manageable, with a hot shower.|We had a hammock outside which was great to relax in, while using their very reliable free wifi.|There is also an outside pool, which would be great in Summer.|I cannot comment on the breakfast served as we left too early for a tour the next day.|The price of the room is moderate to high, but acceptable for this very touristy town.|Our early checkout was assisted by a security guard on duty, and we were again able to leave our luggage at reception while we were on tour the whole day.|Overall, a pleasant stay despite no-one being able to...