Can you imagine staying in a salt hotel? With floor, walls, cadeiras and other movements, all the salt? And when I say salt, it’s salt itself, or seja, that branquinho de cozinha.
As strange as you might imagine, it exists! And so is the Luna Salada Salt Hotel, in the southwest of Bolívia, more precisely in the Salar de Uyuni.
There is no shortage of raw materials to build a hotel. Ultimately, the Salar de Uyuni is the largest salt desert in the world. Only more than 10,000 square kilometers and nearly 10 billion tons of salt! As mentioned in the post Salar de Uyuni and Lagunas Coloradas: one of the two most spectacular places on the planet!, the place is a white space that seems like nothing else! Quase que uma miragem!
Second, tell me, thousands of years ago, ocean water was imprisoned there during the formation process of the Andes mountain range, creating a huge pre-historic lake. When the water evaporates, only layers and more layers of salt will remain.
I didn’t think that it was that salty sun like a beach area. The salt is extremely compact, almost like a stone. This is why it is possible to build rocks and walls of salt. There are several blocks of salt handcrafted, weighing between 15 and 20kg each, to form the walls, the sofas, the tables, the chains…
Logo at the entrance is there to see the charm of the chao and white walls, which makes us feel all the positive energy of the Salar.
My friend Nádia, who was traveling with me, had to “taste the wall” to prove that it was the same salt… (rs)
In the common areas of the hotel, there are huge windows with views of the Salt Flats. Give yourself hours of sitting on a salt couch – or in a network – contemplating the landscape! The chairs are occasionally comfortable with the colorful pillows, but sometimes they have several stones of salt that can be crushed or crushed. For this reason, nothing should be done when driving barefoot.
Only in some areas, such as the game room and the new reception area, the floor is not salty.
The hotel has been in operation since 2005 and currently has 49 rooms, 16 in the luxury category and 33 in the standard category. The most popular are those who look for the Salar! It’s just a dream to remember and see a white face in front of you!
The rooms are comfortable and spacious. Possuem banheiros, heating system, hair dryer, goose feather traverses among other things that make for super comfortable accommodation! The decoration is rustic and ethnic, all with refinement and charm.
Our rooms, the salt floor receive a floating wooden floor to allow the comfort of circulation without shoes and prevent everything from becoming white with salt. Just add a small amount of salt next to the wall to give it some charm.
The regional temperature at certain times of the year can cool many temperatures below zero. But, happily, the guests there are always quentinhos, because there is a heating system and back windows throughout the hotel.
The hotel restaurant, called Tunupa, is a separate chapter. Considered the best restaurant in the Uyuni region, it has a view of the Salar and a cardápio that pleases the most demanding palates, deserving of highlight are the dishes with quinoa and llama, which have a gourmet presentation. It is also possible to try the best Bolivian wine labels. E, o melhor de tudo, no comfort! No mess, cold or heat.
Manhã coffee is included daily and has quite a variety of items.
The lunch is served a la carte and the prices of the two main dishes, in March 2016 when we visited the hotel, varied from 70 to 110 Bolivian pesos. The beer costs 35 pesos and the drinks start at 40 pesos.
The food is served in a buffet system, at a value of U$ 22 per person. There were many options, but I confess that I did not enjoy much of the buffet. Achei expensive. Particularly, I prefer less quantity, with a better presentation.
And an important note: before or after leaving the car in the desert, take advantage of the hotel’s spa to relax.
Useful information
Every day the Hotel de Sal Luna Salada costs around U$150 for 2 people, with fresh coffee.
The hotel is located about 30km from the airport and the town of Uyuni. The transfer from the airport to the hotel and vice versa in a private taxi for 4 people costs U$ 45, each way. On shared buses and at predetermined times (at 7am, 9am or 8pm to go to the hotel and at 5:30, 8am and 6:45pm to leave the hotel), the transfer costs U$ 12 per person, per way.
As the hotel is isolated, plan to season the hotel and take advantage of the facilities it offers.
In our case, we are staying just one night in a hotel. We took advantage of the day to tann the hotel and ride a bicycle in the Salar not by the sun. Or hotel aluga bike for U$ 10. The next day, we left to do the tour in a 4×4 vehicle for 3 days and 4 nights with the company Late Bolívia, which we had already contracted via the internet. Read the details in the post Salar de Uyuni and Lagunas Coloradas: one of the two most spectacular places on the planet! It is an excellent option to relax and harden your life before facing the need for two rooms and collective bathrooms (rs).
It is also possible to book excursions outside the hotel. We offer 2 different tours, both through Salar. Prices start at USD 90. If you are looking for comfort, it is worth considering, because, despite the price, the hotel provides a service with better quality than those offered by the agencies in the center of the city of Uyuni. The only disadvantage is that the hotel does not offer tours for as many different places (and more distant ones) as it is possible to do the tours offered in Uyuni.
*Post written by four mãos, by Anna Bárbara and Nádia Ferreira.
* We in the World stayed at the Hotel de Sal Luna Salada.
