Our Habitas Atacama — Hotel in San Pedro de Atacama

I was REALLY looking forward to some rest and relaxation at this property but sadly they missed the mark on so many things I won't try out another Habitas property.

The roses first. I loved the front desk staff and how willing they were to help out as much as they could. My masseuse Marisela was an angel and single handedly saved my experience at this hotel. Lastly, the hotel is VERY clean and VERY quiet. Which is some of the things I was looking for and received.

The thorns: for a "luxury" hotel in the DESERT. I'd think on the most basic level you'd have air conditioners or I don't know stationary fans in your rooms. Those who were lucky enough to receive one ( I overheard another guest begging for a fan) had to open our windows - w zero screens and blast the fan they provided. Not very relaxing sleeps and pretty much guaranteed you COULD NOT stay in your room during the day. The mattress although large and looked comfortable was in fact not. It was remarkable how a bed could be really hard and also very lumpy and I know I may sound like a whiny person but I'm not exaggerating they need to replace the mattresses. You were warned.

The staff is in my opinion not well managed. They have A LOT of front desk staff and property cleaners, but if you needed service at the pool, or by your room you're out of luck. With no phones in the room you're hiking it for simple things such as...water.

The housekeeper left much to be desired they barely cleaned my room the second day and weirdly did a thorough clean the third which grossed me out because it made me think they would do another barely clean for the next guest after me...yuck. If they allocated some of the folks I saw literally wiping down stone to the housekeepers that may help. The breakfast was basic at best, exposed to the desert bugs, constantly needed replenishing and for some reason the server was hungry for tips. I couldn't even finish my tea before she strongly "suggested" I leave her a tip. This happened every time I sat down and even when she charged me for the free water they provide. Apparently her handing me the bottle over me bringing the bottle myself means there's...

This was our 3rd time staying in Our Habitas properties. Twice before this was Habitas Al Ula, where things were nearly perfect and therefore expectations were very high in Atacama.

However we found Atacama property completely different to its Saudi sister. Staff was still well trained at the reception, but many of others didn’t speak English and it caused significant issues later (mixed orders in restaurant, housekeeping waking us up in wrong time, etc).

No phones are available in rooms, communication with staff is through WhatsApp where answers in my experience took hours. Moreover, they have no room service team and whatever you want to get you should receive at reception or bar yourself.

The state of the property was quite sad. Things were literally falling apart starting from the keychain in hands of the reception person while leading us to our room and going into very outdated furniture, damaged decoration, spiders and their webs on the ceiling, very poor ventilation where nights were extremely cold and days deadly hot, no mosquito nets on windows, etc.

I tried to use the safe to lock some valuables while going to Atacama, but only managed to close it and it never opened again. Room cleaning lady was unable to help me with that.

Breakfast variety wasn’t great as well. Only 1-2 choices of hot dishes, 1-2 cheeses and 1-2 sliced meat. On departure morning we were at the restaurant about 7am and found it still not ready. It took another 10mins to finish up everything and opening time is not that early to have it as an excuse.

Overall I wouldn’t recommend this hotel to anyone who wants to spend ca.$400+ / night until they train staff, renovate the rooms and improve breakfast situation.

They charge you rates of solid 5* hotels, but what you get for this price is not...

I liked the hotel itself and my room, every room has a little outdoor space with chairs which was nice. I wish there was a nespresso machine / tea in the room, i feel like this is a must for 4* hotel these days. The reception team was awesome, great communication, they helped me with the adapter for the phone charger, and also agreed to keep my suitcase for 3 days while i was on a tour to Bolivia - which i really appreciate! The stargazing experience (free for the hotel guests) was absolutely amazing!

The location wasn’t particularly nice but i think because of the size of the property and each room being a standalone little house - the remote location makes sense. The smallest room (where i stayed) don’t have windows (not sure if that is the case for all rooms) so be aware.

The pool area is nice but there is not enough pool beds. There is only 4 of them and it is not even close to be enough. Also the water in the pool was so freaking cold it was almost impossible to stay there for more than a few minutes.

Unfortunately the food at the restaurant was absolutely awful. Pan fried tuna was terrible (it also comes with beans which was such a weird combo), the octopus was impossible to chew, eggs and veggies at the breakfast buffet were always cold.

The restaurant team was very very slow and didn’t pay any attention to the guests, i had to wait for an hour for my plate to be removed and ask for a dessert and i was the only person at the restaurant. Service at the pool also kind of non existing.

I stayed during busy season and rates were obviously higher (and that’s on me) but i didn’t feel like the hotel was worth ~$300 per night that i paid.

Lastly, the transfer to the airport that the hotel organized was also very expensive ($160 i think for ~ 1...