Travel Agent - December 8, 2008 - (Page 52)

DESTINATIONS CONTINUED FROM PAGE 50 the views of the port.) In the summer (November through April), 50 people can be seated at any one time in all three dining areas. In the winter, seating is limited to 25 people. This property is perfect for groups and couples. Agents should call Claudia Schovelin, reservations manager, at 011-56-2-657-3950 or cschovelin@casahigueras.cl. Awasi Awasi (www.awasi.com) hides behind an ancient wall that was preserved during construction. There isn’t even a sign on the exterior wall, allowing the hotel to blend in with the local architecture. The hotel opened about two years ago and is located in San Pedro de Atacama, in Chile’s Atacama Desert, said to be the driest on the planet. Awasi has eight cottages, all of them built out of stone, adobe and wood. Each one has more than 500 square feet of space with a private patio, a reading armchair and a solarium. Other nice touches in the cottages are the wooden floors, beds with alpaca blankets and outdoor showers. (The only major difference between the cottages is that some are rectangular while others are round. We were told that most clients prefer the round ones.) In three of the eight rooms, an extra bed may be added if necessary. Guests can have a personal butler unpack their belongings upon arrival, and a Pillow Menu allows clients to select the pillows of their choice for their bed. Awasi’s restaurant is only open to hotel guests. The culinary team at the resort consists of four professionals who only cook for a maximum of 16 guests. The dishes are made using only native ingredients that have been part of A suite at Casa Higueras offers a hilltop view of Valparaiso the diet of the local people for thousands of years. These include purple potatoes, patasca, quinoa and chañar. An Awasi 4x4 vehicle and a professional guide are always available for private excursions. In fact, Awasi has a fleet of 4x4s specially prepared for the difficult conditions of the desert and the altitude. The vehicles are equipped with a GPS unit and VHF or satellite telephones. For your environmentally conscious clients, it’s probably worth mentioning that the design and materials used in Awasi were all obtained in the area in order to respect the local culture and traditions of the Atacama people. The buildings are made of adobe, and the architecture is designed after the ancient Tulor homes of Atacama. The ground in the common spaces is laid with rock from the local mining town of Toconao, and the marble used in the bathrooms is excavated from the nearby city of Calama. Water used for gardening and maintenance is recycled through an on-property drainage system. The layout of Awasi was adapted to the vegetation, and not a single tree of the land was cut during the construction. Also, the guest rooms and common spaces incorporate locally made decor and furnishings such as aguayos, pottery and alpaca throws. Pumice stones in the bathroom are from the local volcano Laskar. San Pedro de Atacama is located in the Chilean highlands near the borders of Bolivia and Argentina, 1,040 miles north of Santiago. The road between San Pedro de Atacama and Calama is paved and in good condition, and passes through desert landscape. The area is very rich in all kinds of llama, alpaca and sheep-wool textiles, volcanic stone items, Atacama ceramics and cactus-wood carving. If your clients are looking to see more than one country during their trip, guests from Argentina can arrive at Awasi through the Argentina-Chile border stop, Jama Pass (located in Jujuy Province). The distance from Jama to San Pedro de Atacama is 220 miles. From Bolivia, guests can arrive in San Pedro via the Bolivian town of Uyuni. Agents should contact Ivan Costa, commercial manager, at 011-56-2-233-9641 or icosta@ awasi.cl. —JOE PIKE CONNECTING YOU For a video on vacations in South America, visit www.travelagentcentral.com/video 52 | TravelAgent December 8, 2008 http://www.awasi.com http://www.travelagentcentral.com/video

Table of Contents Feed for the Digital Edition of Travel Agent - December 8, 2008

Travel Agent - December 8, 2008 Reality Check On the Web Contents Contributors From the Editor Europe: Scotland Begins a Yearlong Heritage Celebration Pacific/Asia: Singapore’s Hotel Scene is Vibrant, Inventive and Luxe Egypt: Building Tourism was the Key Topic at the ATS Fall Conference in Cairo Hawaii: Oahu’s North Shore has a Gentle, Laid-Back Ambiance Special Insert: US Airways Vacations—Universal Orlando Master Specialist Canada: The Hotel Le St-James Offers a Taste of Elegance Las Vegas: Sin City May Not See Deals this Good for a Long Time Florida: The Eden Roc Hotel Re-Emerges after a Major Overhaul Central & South America: Chile is an Emerging Hot Spot Caribbean, The Bahamas & Bermuda: Barbados Hotel Undergoes Major Renovation A Jamaica Tourism Official Shares the Island’s Plans Two Little-Known Caribbean Properties are Worth a Look Cruises: 10 Reasons to Love the Ruby Princess Cover Story: Religious Tourism - Faith-Based Vacations are a Growing Niche, and Are Taking Off in Surprising Ways Delta Takes Off: The Delta/Northwest Merger canReshape the Aviation Industry Tours: Traveling in Style with NWA WorldVacations Agent Profile: This Full-Service Agency Turns personalized Service into an Art New Web Trends: Services Aim to Increase Agent Sales Agenda: Fam Trips, Deals & Incentives, Calendar Celebrity Solstice Hosts Forum for Economic Discussion Cap Juluca to Reopen in Anguilla Hawaii Seeks New Tourism Angles IWV: Scam or Opportunity? In the Spotlight Agent Access Classified Marketplace Editorial Index Advertising Index Special Supplement: South Africa: Your Journey Begins Here

Travel Agent - December 8, 2008

For optimal viewing of this digital publication, please enable JavaScript and then refresh the page. If you would like to try to load the digital publication without using Flash Player detection, please click here.