Going to Rapa Nui, Easter Island in 2011 - Tiki Travel

B bamalamalu Tiki Socialite Joined: Mar 20, 2006 Posts: 1287	B bamalamalu Posted posted on Tue, Feb 23, 2010 9:22 PM Exciting news! I went in October 2008, and it was fantastic. I'd also suggest picking one of the smaller family run places to stay. We ended up staying at Hotel Taura'a and really enjoyed it. It was very easy dealing with Edith online to set up the reservation, etc. and great, small staff overall. Easy, short walk to town & the water, very good breakfasts, and they took care of everything - arranging rental cars, tours, straightening out my return fight reservation which seemed to have disappeared from LAN's computers... They also have lots of mini Moai throughout the yard/gardens. Incidentally, we'd see vans from the mondo-pricey resort (Explora?) around - apparently they don't allow their guests off the property unsupervised! Hardly the way to experience the island. We flew from LA through Santiago since it was quicker and I didn't have enough time for a Tahiti sidetrip. I booked through LAN online (frustrating to deal with on the phone; great once you're in the air). We were lucky enough to do the class upgrade on the Santiago to Easter Island leg, but even coach was pretty swank compared to US airlines. Looking back at it, I realize I never posted any info after my trip, but there's an older thread here with some more tips: http://www.tikicentral.com/viewtopic.php?topic=27683&forum=16&hilite=seeking%20easter%20island

Exciting news! I went in October 2008, and it was fantastic. I'd also suggest picking one of the smaller family run places to stay. We ended up staying at Hotel Taura'a and really enjoyed it. It was very easy dealing with Edith online to set up the reservation, etc. and great, small staff overall. Easy, short walk to town & the water, very good breakfasts, and they took care of everything - arranging rental cars, tours, straightening out my return fight reservation which seemed to have disappeared from LAN's computers... They also have lots of mini Moai throughout the yard/gardens. Incidentally, we'd see vans from the mondo-pricey resort (Explora?) around - apparently they don't allow their guests off the property unsupervised! Hardly the way to experience the island.

We flew from LA through Santiago since it was quicker and I didn't have enough time for a Tahiti sidetrip. I booked through LAN online (frustrating to deal with on the phone; great once you're in the air). We were lucky enough to do the class upgrade on the Santiago to Easter Island leg, but even coach was pretty swank compared to US airlines.

Looking back at it, I realize I never posted any info after my trip, but there's an older thread here with some more tips:

http://www.tikicentral.com/viewtopic.php?topic=27683&forum=16&hilite=seeking%20easter%20island

Post #513005 by bamalamalu on Tue, Feb 23, 2010 9:22 PM