Easter Island, Chile

Explora Rapa Nui

Price per night from$982.80

Price information

If you haven’t entered any dates, the rate shown is provided directly by the hotel and represents the cheapest double room (including tax) available in the next 60 days.

Prices have been converted from the hotel’s local currency (USD982.80), via openexchangerates.org, using today’s exchange rate.

Style

Wood-hewn wonder

Setting

Pacific rim

The mysterious, monolithic Moai may be what draw you to Easter Island, but Explora Rapa Nui ensures you won’t want to leave. The undulating exterior sits on 23 acres of unspoilt land, a rare patch of the island free from archaeological remains. The Pacific is king, with ocean views in every room and everything angled to best admire it. Days are spent out in the World Heritage Site with knowledgeable local guides; by nightfall, return to this cosy basecamp, for a glass or two of Chilean wine and some freshly caught seafood. 

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A bottle of champagne

Facilities

Photos Explora Rapa Nui facilities

Need to know

Rooms

30, including four suites.

Check–Out

10am. Earliest check-in, 1pm.

Prices

Double rooms from £778.41 ($983).

More details

Rates include all meals, drinks, transfers and guided excursions. A three-night minimum stay is required.

Also

Most travellers will know this land mass by its resurrection-celebrating moniker, but it also goes by the name of Rapa Nui, which means ‘Big Island’.

At the hotel

Free WiFi in communal areas, local guides, laundry, parking. In rooms: jetted bath tub and heating.

Our favourite rooms

Each room overlooks the ocean, but for space – and a curved window for maximum sea views – opt for a Raa Suite, which feature all-wood interiors, handmade furniture and colourful soft furnishings.

Poolside

There’s a Pacific-facing pool outside, with an infinity edge and excellent Easter Island views.

Spa

The spa has two view-toting treatment rooms at the end of a walkway, as well as a sauna and Jacuzzi.

Packing tips

Expedition-friendly Gore-Tex and sturdy boots – but the hotel will handily provide your trekking poles and water bottle.

Also

Guestrooms have wide doorways and level access for wheelchair users, but the bathrooms aren’t adapted.

Children

All ages are welcome. Extra beds can be added to Raa Suites for under-12s. Activities can be adapted to suit shorter-legged explorers.

Best for

Older children.

Recommended rooms

Family Apartments, which combine two bedrooms, have two bathrooms and sleep six.

Activities

While some of the hikes may be challenging, children will love helping out with some sheep-herding and riding horses.

Swimming pool

Children are welcome in the indoor pool.

Meals

Children are welcome in the bar and restaurant at all times, where there is a special menu for younger palates, and staff are happy to heat up milk and food.

Food and Drink

Photos Explora Rapa Nui food and drink

Top Table

The interior is perfectly eye-pleasing, but it’s the view through the windows you want to be looking at.

Dress Code

You can lose the all-weather gear, but there’s no need to go full grass-skirt.

Hotel restaurant

If you thought holiday indulgence and hardcore hikes couldn’t go hand in hand, think again: the food here has been designed to ensure guests are still nimble come morning (even if everything’s washed down with a hearty Chilean red…). The remote setting means a regularly changing menu, based on what the boats bring in; ceviche is a highlight. For breakfast, there’s a spread of cereals and fresh fruit, as well as cooked-to-order eggs.

Hotel bar

The circular, open-air Explorer’s Bar is the natural meeting point for après-excursion imbibing, where you can plot the next day’s ramblings with the guides over a Pisco sour or some wine from the mainland.

Last orders

The restaurant is open all day, breakfast runs 7.30am till 10am, then the all-day menu runs till 10pm. The bar starts serving at 11am and stops at 11pm.

Location

Photos Explora Rapa Nui location
Address
Explora Rapa Nui
Te Miro Oone
Easter Island
Chile

The hotel is on Easter Island, a remote province of Chile in the middle of the Pacific Ocean. It’s 2,300 miles from the mainland, and the nearest neighbours are 1,300 miles to the west on the Pitcairn Islands.

Planes

The island’s Mataveri airport is a 15-minute drive from Explora; hotel transfers are included. Domestic flights from Santiago take five-and-a-half hours; Latam operates a daily service from October to December (keep in mind that these book up well in advance).

Automobiles

The island’s main town, Hanga Roa, is a 15-minute drive from the hotel. There’s no public transport on the island but hire cars can be rented from Renta Insular (www.rentainsular.cl). Free parking awaits.

Worth getting out of bed for

Aside from trips to the main-attraction Moai, the hotel offers more than 20 adventures to restless guests, including quests to volcanoes, beaches, prairies and cliff faces, on foot, horseback or by boat and bike. You’ll be able to set your ideal length and difficulty level with your guide. Tickets to local Kari Kari (a traditional Polynesian dance show) can also be arranged.

Local restaurants

This is one of the furthest-flung destinations on earth – your chances of getting a meal outside of the hotel are pretty slim.

Reviews

Photos Explora Rapa Nui reviews

Anonymous review

Every hotel featured is visited personally by members of our team, given the Smith seal of approval, and then anonymously reviewed. As soon as our reviewers have returned from this coastal hotel in Chile and unpacked their surfboards and swimsuits, a full account of their boutique break will be with you. In the meantime, to whet your wanderlust, here's a quick peek inside Explora Rapa Nui on Easter Island…

One of the most remote land masses in the world, Easter Island is famed all over it for one thing: its mystifying Maoi, the sombre figures carved from volcanic rock that dot the landscape, which are believed to have been crafted by Polynesians between the 11th and 14th centuries – whether for veneration or another purpose, no one knows. Only reached by five-hour flight from Santiago or Tahiti, the isolated island offers seclusion like few other places on earth. And it isn’t just the statues encouraging intrigue – another question that regularly stumps visitors is: ‘where are all the trees?’ (The island doesn’t have any.)

Explore Rapa Nui arrived on this mysterious landscape with no other obligation but to worship it, and the devotion has been recognised – it’s a certified leader in energy and environmental design. The island and its Pacific-lashed shores are the centrepoint, with ocean views in every room, but the local guides, adventure-packed excursions and evenings spent sea-gazing add to the experience. The stony-faced statues might not look very happy about being here, but we’re sure you will be. 

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Price per night from $982.80