Hostal Aldea del Elqui — Hotel in Vicuña

We moved down Gabriel about 6 blocks for 1 night to finish our trip to Vicuña and the Elqui Valle. What a wonderful Hostel. Without doubt one of the better Gardens that we have seen as part of a Hostel. It obviously had some prior thought given to the beautiful cool pool .. not a fountain AND not a regular type pool.. interesting circular design. Further along the Garden paths you come to several shaded relaxing location, then further along a surprise.. A Sauna .. and while we have one in our home sure would love to have this specific design outside in our Back yard. In addition a Hot Tub..we did not use it was covered by in operation. Several BBQ locations. There is an upstairs and downstairs portion of the Two sections of the Hostel and for us the Garden view from the inner upstairs is preferable as the other section overlooks the Off-street parking and one being adjacent to one of the streets. Kitchen is quite adequate and none of the clutter and over-crowded refrigerators here. There is at least 2 or more shifts of cleaning employees in the hostel, kitchen,laundry, grounds, et cetera. Breakfast is typical but while there is fresh fruit and small assortment cereals, lots of sweets. We had our own yogurt, brown bread and coffee. Owner is friendly accessible person, and when I asked for little leche / milk for my coffee someone was dispatched to the local corner store. The|Price was very reasonable and certainly better (all factors considered) than our previous 3 nights. Would have opted for this Hostel had we known what we now know. Two lovely dogs and a cat. As to be expected the former are more accepting of you than the cat, still lovely personality. No worry they are not...

We booked a room via email with this hostel and were given such a warm welcome when we arrived (we even received a hug). ||We paid CLP20000 for a matrimonial room with private bathroom, including a huge and delicious breakfast. The room was big, clean, nicely decorated and warm. The water in the shower was nice and hot which was fantastic.||Out the back they have a lovely area for relaxing. Fountains, swings, hammocks, a sauna and a spa! Perfect place to have your lunch or read a book in the sun. ||We used the kitchen a few times when we were there, it has everything you need. Yes, the family are often in there, but they were helpful and we felt quite welcome.||There is also a huge book exchange and plentiful wifi (one Wifi for each of the front and back of the hostel).||The staff were so helpful, helped us with tours and orientation to the town. The hostel is within walking distance of everything; supermarket, bank, bus station, observatory booking agencies, capel pisco distillery, the local brewery. It is much cheaper to visit mamalluca observatory from this town (only clp7000 including transfer).||We can highly recommend staying here! Very well set up and wonderful owners....

We stayed here for 3 nights in March in a private double en-suite. The room was in a separate building at the back overlooking the garden. It is clean with a comfortable bed but it's a very small space. The bathroom is new, but stranglely only had hot water in the sink, no cold for brushing teeth. The shower had hot and cold but little pressure. The garden itself is where we spent most of our time, it really is lovely. There's plenty of furniture to relax on and wifi is available outside as well. ||||Someone else mentioned the dog and we had the same experience. It's relentless. But when I wear earplugs I can sleep through anything so it didn't disturb my sleep but it was annoying during the day.||||The breakfast included an egg, which is always a bonus, and there was a whole spread of cakes and sweet things which people seemed to enjoy. ||||They said we could use the kitchen but it felt awkward because the hostel staff were always in there and it's quite small so we ate out. Although there isn't a huge selection locally.||||The garden is the main draw for me and I nearly gave this property 4 stars for that alone but the water situation, size of room and dog mean I can...