Punta de Lobos, Chile

Hotel Alaia

Price per night from$207.00

Price information

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

Prices have been converted from the hotel’s local currency (USD207.00), via openexchangerates.org, using today’s exchange rate.

Hotel Alaia Photos

Style

Perfect break

Setting

Hallowed surf spot

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Boutique surf lodge Hotel Alaia is perched amid the dunes at Punta de Lobos, a world-famous surfing destination on Chile’s northern coast. A five-minute drive from Pichilemu, this rugged stretch of beachfront is renowned for its reliable swells and long, left-breaking waves, which are some of the best in the southern hemisphere. In the past, what the area didn’t have was a hotel worthy of design-savvy surfers – a gap that Hotel Alaia has filled with aplomb. The rooms are styled with rustic minimalism, featuring polished concrete floors and timber walls that sit easily with the landscape, keeping the focus on the sweeping Pacific views. Most guests spend their days out in the ocean, but other diversions include yoga classes, wood-fired hot tubs and a restaurant that only serves food and fine wine sourced from within 100 kilometers of the hotel.

Smith Extra

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A welcome drink and surf class for each guest

Facilities

Photos Hotel Alaia facilities

Need to know

Rooms

12 suites.

Check–Out

Noon, but flexible, subject to availability. Earliest check-in, 3pm.

More details

Rates include a hearty buffet breakfast with fresh bread and muffins, cereals, yoghurt, avocados, cheeses and eggs however you like them.

Also

The hotel has a boutique stocked with surfing and outdoor gear, particularly goods by US brand Patagonia, who collaborated with Save the Waves to purchase 4.5 acres of land at Punta de Lobos, which they duly designated a World Surfing Reserve.

At the hotel

Beach with world-class surfing; outdoor hot tubs; climbing wall; skatepark; surf boutique; free WiFi throughout. In rooms: flatscreen TV; minibar; Nespresso coffee machine; tea kit; free bottled water; Majen bath products.

Our favourite rooms

All 12 rooms are the same size and style, so there’s no chance of getting a dud. What’s more, they all have floor-to-ceiling windows and a private terrace overlooking the dunes and ocean.

Poolside

The slate-tiled pool is on the sundeck at the front of the hotel, giving swimmers an uninterrupted view of the ocean. The deck is scattered with sunloungers, daybeds and hammocks, and there are several wood-fired hot tubs overlooking the tufted dunes.

Packing tips

Bring sporty clothes for the yoga classes and something to wrap up with in the evening – guests often congregate by the bonfire for a nightcap.

Also

The coastal landscape and lack of adapted rooms make the hotel unsuitable for wheelchair users.

Children

All ages are welcome. Four of the suites can be connected, and babysitting is available from CLP50 an hour; three days’ notice is needed when booking.

Food and Drink

Photos Hotel Alaia food and drink

Top Table

You can’t beat a table by the windows.

Dress Code

With such a strong surf scene in the area, beachy bohemianism is the order of the day.

Hotel restaurant

The rippling ocean takes center stage at the restaurant which is flanked by floor-to-ceiling windows on the ocean side, bringing the rich blues of sea and sky into the room. The interiors are a study in organic elegance, clad in richly-toned timber and strewn with mid-century furniture fashioned from rattan and iron. There’s an open fire at either end of the room, adding a cheerful crackle and the scent of wood smoke to the evenings. The mod-Chilean menu is tied to the local area, with all the produce sourced within 100km of the hotel, whether it’s hand-caught fish and samphire from the local waters, salt and quinoa from Cáhuil or fine wines from the nearby Colchagua Valley, one of the country’s best-known regions. To start, try the tiradito alaia, a ceviche dish made with the fish of the day, sweet potato, citrus, pickle, Cáhuil salt and green chili. For the main event, order la vieja rica, a roasted rockfish served with a cream of toasted almonds, sautéed lime beans and a vinegar reduction.

Hotel bar

Part of the restaurant, the bar is clad in chunks of wood that have been carved into smooth diamond shapes, creating a pattern reminiscent of fish scales. There’s a large selection of local Chilean wines, craft beers and all the necessary spirits for classic cocktails, including an excellent pisco sour.

Last orders

Breakfast is served from 8.30am to 11am; the all-day menu is available from 11am to 11pm.

Room service

While the restaurant is open, anything on the menu can be ordered as room service. You can also order snacks and drinks to the hot tubs.

Location

Photos Hotel Alaia location
Address
Hotel Alaia
Camino Punta de Lobos 681
Pichilemu
Chile

Hotel Alaia is perched on the dunes overlooking Chile’s most iconic surf spot, Punta de Lobos, a five-minute drive from coastal city Pichilemu.

Planes

The best place to touch down is Santiago’s Arturo Merino Benítez International Airport, which can be reached directly from London Heathrow. It takes around three hours to drive from the airport to the hotel; the Smith24 team can arrange your transfers.

Automobiles

You won’t need your own set of wheels if you’re going to spend all your time at the hotel, but it’ll be worth having a car if you want to explore under your steam.

Worth getting out of bed for

With Chile’s most famous surf spot on the doorstep, the hotel’s a haven for anyone who loves to feel the sand beneath their feet and taste salt spray on the wind. The waves here get ridden by some of the best in the business, but don’t be put off if you’ve never set foot on a board before – the hotel can organise expert-led surfing lessons for all abilities. At any level, surfing is best done with a limber body, so join one of the morning or evening yoga classes, which are held out on the sun deck when it’s warm. Once you’ve returned from the beach in the afternoon, make a beeline for the wood-burning hot tubs on the terrace (you’ll need to reserve one in advance). They’re served by the bar staff, making them the best places to watch the sun setting over the bay. For a taste of centuries-old culture, take a trip to the salt flats at Cáhuil, where sea salt has been produced since pre-Hispanic times. The marshy landscape is also home to a large population of birds, including herons and black-necked swans. If the trip inspires you to discover more about the local culinary scene, book onto an experience with Raíces Lab, a team of chefs, sommeliers and food writers who describe themselves as ‘gastronomic consultants’. Experts in the local cuisine and passionate about redefining the way its approached, they run a variety of foodie experiences, including one where you'll forage along the coast with a chef, then head back to the Raíces studio, where the day’s bounty will be transformed into a gourmet meal. Pilchemu is also renowned for its strong art scene, with many artists choosing to up sticks from busy Santiago and journey south to this quieter coastal spot. Ask at reception about the wine and waves art tour, on which you’ll visit the studios of local artists, sampling some first-rate Chilean vintages along the way.

Local restaurants

For lunch with a view, book a table on the terrace at La Sal, which sits atop a bank of jagged black rocks that are lapped by the ocean. Meals here are a long and leisurely affair – some stop by for a half-dozen oysters and a glass of crisp Chilean wine, and end up staying to sample half the menu, which includes delicate ceviche, charcoal-grilled octopus, Peruvian tempura and fragrant prawn curries. For dinner, book a table at local hero La Loba, which is slightly further back from the coastline, perched among the shrubs and cacti that fringe the beach. The restaurant has an army of loyal fans thanks to the creativity and consistency of the cooking, which is teamed with owner Leonor’s natural hostmanship. If you’re set on a spot with a clear view of the waves, try Casa Cuesta, known for its tender octopus, seafood pasta and hearty meat dishes.

Reviews

Photos Hotel Alaia reviews

Anonymous review

By Mr & Mrs Smith

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 surfing lodge in Punta de Lobos and unpacked their Patagonia gear from the hotel boutique, a full account of their Pacific-coast break will be with you. In the meantime, to whet your wanderlust, here's a quick peek inside Hotel Alaia in Chile…

To the novice surfer, northern Chile might not be the first place that comes to mind when thinking of the sport’s classic spots. Sure, Malibu, Santa Cruz and Manly Beach are rightly enshrined in the surfing hall of fame, but ask those in the know and they’ll tell you that Chile’s Punta de Lobos has equally world-class waves. The lynchpin of the country’s surfing community, this stretch of Pacific coastline is where many of the country’s best riders honed their skills before taking them to the world stage. Now, Punta de Lobos has Hotel Alaia, a boutique surfing lodge that’s worthy of hosting international talent travelling the opposite way.

The hotel’s first trump card is its location: perched on the dunes rather than in nearby Pichilemu, putting the action – and the Pacific – right on the doorstep. The designers have certainly made the most of it, installing floor-to-ceiling windows in the every room, ensuring your days begin and end with the ocean in sight. In keeping with surfing’s bohemian, back-to-nature leanings, the interiors are stripped back and simple, full of reclaimed timber and local crafts. The restaurant is in the same vein, with the chefs only using produce that travels less than 100 kilometers from farm to table. Luckily, this isn’t much of a hardship: some of Chile’s best wine comes from the nearby Colchagua Valley, and the local waters are flush with crab, rockfish and octopus, making meals a sea-foodie’s delight.

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Price per night from $207.00