Desert Calm

Northern Chile is home to salty flats, steamy springs, and a rural spa set in the shadow of an active volcano. What may be Chile’s most decadent spa and fitness retreat, Tierra Atacama is set just outside the town of San Pedro de Atacama, where this desert spa is more than 14,000 feet above sea level. Here, you don’t passively receive your pampering, you earn it by hiking up dunes and scaling volcanos, crawling through salt-cave labyrinths, and clambering through river gorges. The pleasures of spa relaxation commingle with the adrenaline rush of outdoor adventure and the satisfaction of believing you’ve deserved your decadent downtime. You begin each day by perusing three packed, enticing menus- one for a host of nearby excursions, one for the spa, and another for the on-site restaurant studded with sin gluten options- which allows guests to cherry-pick their adventures and their cures.

The hotel itself evokes austere, ranchero simplicity. Built around a centuries-old cattle enclosure, where Argentine herds paused for refreshment after crossing the Andes and continuing on to the Pacific, it enfolds a rectangular compound of low, angular villas of red-stained wood, each with a terrace and woven sunroof, enclosed by adobe walls. Since May 2015, the property has been run by Nicholas Russ, a charming Brit who has lived in Chile for 14 years. The international and chic crowd can unwind with a solitary soak in a hot tub in the hotel’s rosemary garden, or bask in the bright sun under a roof of brea branches, floating in skin-smoothing goat’s milk flecked with lavender and mint. Or, just hang out at night under the desert stars with a nice bottle of Chilean wine- or a nice Chilean- in tow. www.tierrahotels.com