Elqui Valley in Chile’s Norte Chico region stretches between the Andes Mountains. The region is known for its great potential for wine growing, astronomy, and tourism. The star gazers flock to the region in large numbers. Elqui Domos is the hotel located in Elqui Valley that is designed to serve this category of tourists. The valley boasts of sparkling clear skies and this is what attracts the star gazers to the valley. Elqui Domos is a unique astronomical hotel and one of very few such hotels in the world. Its design takes advantage of the clear skies and offer best opportunity to its star gazer guests.
RDM Arquitectura Have Designed the New Cabins
The astronomical hotel is designed as a series of geodesic domes. These unique lodgings have detachable roof covers and the rooms have elevated loft beds that make it possible for the guests to literally lie under the stars. Some wooden cabins have been added to the hotel and they have also been designed with star gazing in mind. RDM Arquitectura were commissioned to design the new cabins. The idea was to design the room in such a way that the guests could get a view of the sky from a private terrace, lounge and even the bed.
There are Telescopes in Every Room
The cabins have been built at two levels. The ground floor consists of a spacious living room and bathroom. The second level has the bedroom with a detachable roof cover. The original domes and the new cabins both feature their own telescopes for guest use. Telescopes are available pool side where the hotel conducts an astronomy tour to make the guests familiar with the cosmology of the southern skies. The amateur observatory also hosts lectures on astronomy by experts. The Cerro Tololo Inter-American Observatory (CTIO) is also not very far from the hotel. There are several large telescopes there and visitors get a feel of how the experts view the sky. The guests can keep busy during the day by going for a hike in the mountains or opt for horse riding, mountain biking, wine tasting and yoga. The rates at Elqui Domos start from US$120 per couple per night.
Via: archdaily
