Nayara Hangaroa

Perfect resort for us. We are extremely independent travelers and wanted to explore Rapa Nui but still have some creature comforts from home. This hotel was perfect for us. Location in town is a huge plus include walking/driving distance to restaurants, stores, laundromat (if you wish to do your own laundry), etc etc. We considered Explora which was all inclusive (meals and activities) but for us Nayara was the right choice. We drove past Explora and while it’s in a remote part of the island, we felt you get to interact with more locals at Nayara as you have access to town. Explora is more for people who need hand holding the whole time. Nayara is ala carte, you can have as much hand holding or as little as you want. We had a great room. Lots of privacy even though the rooms/huts are relative close to each other. Some reviews say property is a bit run down but it goes with the territory of being on a remote island. Weather can be harsh, things break and sometimes can’t be fixed asap and there are bugs (even in luxury) because you’re in nature!! But it was perfect for us. Only critic is gym could be larger but hey, how many people work out when they come to Easter Island? lol I did… and I saw a woman running through the many Moai sites. Staff were mostly excellent. Very friendly and personable. Mostly foreign workers from Latin America or mainland Chile but very accommodating and really made the stay wonderful. Food/restaurant were excellent. Highly recommend if you’re looking for luxury. Some tips based on our trip - rent a car as the island is very manageable to self drive. You’ll appreciate the independence - buy a local SIM card in Santiago before landing in Rapa Nui. Your US international might include Chile as one of its covered countries for free but roaming on a non-Chilean SIM is non existent. Local SIM card is cheap and great. I had service including data the entire time (due to work commitments) except in some remote parts of the island where there are no cell towers. - we stayed 4 days 3 nights which was plenty for us. Perhaps 1 extra night would make it more relaxing but I think 1 week is too long. - highly recommend you visit during low season. Weather was still fine with plenty of sunshine with only a small amount of daily rain. No crowds. We were completely alone in many of the sites. - You do need a local guide (which I support)to get within the boundaries of the Moais but you can take amazing pictures from outside the boundary. So we only had a guide for 1 day to take us to the Moais you can only access with a guide and the quarry which was amazing. - stop by the tourist office to get a one of a kind Rapa Nui stamp in your passport!!! We’ve been to many remote place around the world and Easter Island/Rapa Nui is a very special place!

Room was very nice with a separate shower and tub, large bedroom area and outside patio area with Adirondack chairs. Property is large with plenty of area to walk around. Pool looked inviting but weather was too cool for us to swim! I appreciated their efforts to reduce waste and they gave each guest a refillable water bottle so we could fill up before we departed on daily excursions. Excursions were excellent - they gave a big map and explain everything you will see. Make you appreciate the cultural significance of the what you see. Service was uniformly excellent throughout the resort. My only criticism is the food choices for lunch and dinner. Breakfast buffet was fine but for lunch and dinner each day we were offered 2 choices and they were limited. Like tuna pesto and quinoa. I understand their effort to use local food sources but the food selections were just pretty limited. And often lunch and dinner were very similar.