NAYARA ALTO ATACAMA IS PART OF
HOTEL COLLECTION
OUR STORY
Our story is about stunning natural beauty, intimate spaces and connecting with nature. Our mission is to offer you authentic, warm and extraordinary service and share with you our genuine hospitality and local traditions. We take pride in our natural and cultural richness and on being environmentally and socially responsible in everything we do
How we do it
OUR ETHOS
Our Team
Our staff is the very soul of Nayara Alto Atacama. Our outstanding local men and women embody our internal mission of “heartfelt hospitality;” they all feel proud to work here, and to show the desert’s breathtaking natural beauty to our guests through their own eyes.
Veronica Poblete, Our Andean Garden Custodian
Born in Santiago, Chile, Veronica is our in-house botanist and landscape architect. With great care and thoroughness, Veronica has bloomed an Andean Garden out of the desert. She has created paths and water features and has planted native trees, bushes and cactus that thrive in the desert and provide shelter during the dry hot days for birds, foxes, and llamas. “As a little girl I found nature wonderful,” Veronica says, “ the whole process from a seed to a grown plant was magical! This wonder has never left me and I have dedicated my life to the preservation and care of our natural heritage.” When you visit us, you will run into her tending to the garden or talking to other guests.
Alexis Reyes, In-house Guide
Passionate about his land, Alexis loves taking guests around the Atacama Desert. His roots are local, from the town of San Pedro, and his knowledge about the area is vast.
Our Kitchen staff
We believe exceptional memories start at the dining table. Our kitchen staff must exceed expectations and make sure guests have an unforgettable gastronomical experience. We are always thankful to the kitchen teams and we support them with training and education. They are at the heart of the Nayara Alto Atacama experience.
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CERO KILÓMETROS
Gastronomic philosophy
Our kitchens are driven by the mission to offer sustainable and healthy food that uses local and seasonally available products while supporting local farmers and producers. The aim is to get to “zero kilometers” of distance between our produce and our kitchen.
Mariano Martin Salaberry
Executive Chef
Growing up in Buenos Aires, Mariano fell in love with the noises, smells and artifacts of the kitchen. He loved wearing the white apron; “It was true life,” he says, “being surrounded by pots, pans, and cutting boards.” He found his calling and went on to train with the best local and international chefs. Twenty years later he still cherishes that “special connection” between what he does in the kitchen, and who he is as a person. Mariano likes to personally choose his produce and to welcome the fish and meat suppliers at the door. “I love everything that is local, fresh and in-season. Moreover, he adds, “it’s our duty to support our village producers and to honor the textures, flavors and colors of the Desert. For him, the kitchen is his natural milieu and his family.
COMMITED TO SUSTAINABILITY
Community
We think local: we want our community to thrive. Alto Atacama is known in the area as being a stable place to work, and most of our team comes from the neighboring towns. We give yearly scholarships to young people to finish high school, both in the area or other places in Chile.
Regenerative Travel
Our mission is to go beyond sustainability towards Regenerative Travel -not just slowing environmental impacts but actively restoring nature to its previous glory through reforestation projects and investing in the local community. We continue to be environmentally and socially conscious, with a renewed focus on energizing and enhancing The Atacama Desert for generations to come.
Heritage
At Alto Atacama, sustainable tourism is our driving motivation: our architecture was inspired by the desert, and all colors, textures and materials reflect the local Licancabur culture and hundreds of years of Atacama history. We believe in building in harmony with nature, leaving space for wildlife and wilderness, while contributing to the growth of our local community.
Energy & Water Conservation
Our rooms are oriented smartly to maximize the heating effects of sunlight and ventilation, minimizing the need for air conditioning and heating. Moreover, a special thermic material covers the adobe rooms to maintain the heat in the winter and make summers enjoyable.
Water is the most precious resource in the desert. We recycle and treat our well-water, and we have a reverse osmosis system that makes the water drinkable. After water is used in the hotel it gets recycled and used to irrigate and nourish the garden.
COMMITED TO NATURE
Sustainable Tourism “S” Stamp Chile
Alto Atacama has been recognized with the stamp “S” of Sustainable Tourism. This recognition is the equivalent of a sustainable-tourism award from the Global Sustainable Tourism Council (GSTC) or the World Tourism Organization (OMT). It recognizes the efforts and actions of the hotel toward a more sustainable future. The “S” stamp guarantees that the hotel follows all of the global criteria for sustainable tourism, in all socio-cultural, economic and environmental aspects.
Our Andean Garden
Our in-house botanist, Veronica Poblete has painstakingly worked for many years to create an Andean Scape Garden -the only grown garden in the world, in the natural oasis where the hotel is located. She has rescued the ancestral culture of the desert through garden design. Over 2000 square meters of dry altitude desert land are planted with amazing altiplanic trees, interesting cardi, shrubs and Andean edible plants. There is also a salty artificial pond where aquatic life thrives. Stonework, water features and the amazing landscape are complemented by the Llama corral.
Wildlife: Llama Corral
The Llama, (Lama Glama), is a South American member of the camel family, closely related to the alpaca, guanaco and vicuna. They are very social domestic animals, and the legend goes that they were bred during or before the Inca Civilization as a beast of burden. At the hotel we have a large Corral where the Llamas spend the day grazing on grass and delighting our guests.
Leave No Trace: Leave No Trash
We believe in leaving no trace in the desert and we have strict protocols to minimize the trash in the hotel. We recycle paper and carton, aluminum and glass and later on everything is taken to the city of Calama to be treated and reused.
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