10 of the most impressive hotels for stargazing
With northern lights fever fuelling a wider trend for astro-tourism, our writer uncovers the best accommodation picks in destinations that will have your clients reaching for the stars
From navigation aids to tales of ancestors and origins, star-filled skies have captured our imagination for millennia. These days, cosmic curiosity has grown beyond the realms of astronomers, in doing so making stargazing a current travel trend. Help your clients’ stars align by recommending one of these particularly astronomy-friendly hotels.
ANDBEYOND SOSSUSVLEI DESERT LODGE
NAMIBIA
The stargazing is phenomenal in Namibia’s Namib Desert, which boasts clear skies and non-existent light pollution. The go-to place to recommend here is andBeyond Sossusvlei Desert Lodge. By day clients can immerse themselves in the coppery sand-dune scenery populated by ostrich, oryx, springbok and other desert-adapted animals, then come the evening their gaze will switch to the celestial show up above.
Candice Buchan, head of Rainbow, says: “With a resident astronomer who is happy to join guests each evening at the state-of-the-art observatory, this is one of our team’s favourite spots in the world for stargazing. Bordering Africa’s only International Dark Sky Reserve and with the nearest town over 87 miles away, it offers some of the darkest skies in Africa. Our top sales tip is to show clients pictures of the luxury suites too. Complete with retractable skylights, they allow guests to observe the twinkling skies from their beds.”
The luxurious lodge doesn’t come cheap, so remind clients of its excellent value, with all meals, drinks and activities – from stargazing and scenic game drives to exploring the dunes and encountering desert peoples – included in the price.
Book it: Rainbow Tours offers four nights from £6,150pp, including flights, transfers and full-board accommodation with tours and activities; rainbowtours.co.uk, andbeyond.com
TROUT POINT LODGE
CANADA
According to Jeremy Timms, managing director of Frontier Canada, astro-tourism has boomed post-pandemic, driven in part by clients’ desire for natural experiences. “We recommend Nova Scotia’s Trout Point Lodge,” he says. “It’s the world’s first Starlight Hotel certified by Unesco partner Starlight Foundation, and sits beneath some of North America’s darkest skies.”
Being far from urban light pollution, Trout Point Lodge offers some of the starriest skies on the continent. The property features a stargazing platform with near-perfect, 360-degree views of the heavens. Using telescopes and binoculars, clients can marvel at the Milky Way, spot different constellations and glimpse meteor showers, other planets and, with luck, the northern lights.
Dedicated night-sky enthusiasts can go deeper still on an expert-led astronomy tour (private bookings and sommelier-hosted wine tastings are also available); and further enhancing the experience is the lodge’s setting itself, with nothing but sounds of the wilderness to interrupt the celestial magic.
Book it: Frontier Canada offers eight nights in Nova Scotia from £2,765pp, including flights, car hire, a three-night full-board package at Trout Point Lodge, and additional accommodation; frontier-canada.co.uk, troutpoint.com
HOTEL RANGA
ICELAND
The northern lights also play a big part in Iceland’s stargazing appeal. Steer astronomy-minded clients towards Hotel Ranga, an hour’s drive from Reykjavik in the scenic southern part of the country, where they’ll stand a decent chance of observing this bucket-list natural phenomenon.
Hotel Ranga takes stargazing seriously. Its state-of-the-art observatory is equipped with high-powered telescopes and a retractable roof, giving guests front-row seats to the heavens. And to boost any chances of deciphering the sky and identifying different constellations, local astronomy guides are on hand from September until April, when the northern lights are most likely to dance across the sky in purples, pinks and greens.
In daylight hours, clients can get out and about to explore nearby glaciers, waterfalls, volcanoes and other elements of the raw, wild landscape. Regent Holidays has a package that pairs a Hotel Ranga stay with tips and suggestions of things to see and do on nearby day-trips, from black-sand beaches to wildlife-rich Skaftafell National Park.
Book it: Regent Holidays offers four nights’ B&B at Hotel Ranga from £1,245pp, including flights and car hire; regent-holidays.co.uk, hotelranga.is
THE NAUTILUS
MALDIVES
Scattered across vast atolls, the Maldives’ single-island resorts are generally blessed with pristine night skies. Among them, the Nautilus in Baa Atoll – a Unesco Biosphere Reserve – is particularly special for having just 26 villas, minimising light sources. It’s also committed to offering after-dark activities. Clients can gaze at glittering astral wonders from their beachfront villas, or take barefoot strolls along night-time sands lit only by the Milky Way.
Deeper immersions come courtesy of powerful telescopes, perhaps positioned on a castaway sandbank or aboard the resort’s private yacht. Unscripted Dining also allows clients to engage with the stars over alfresco suppers. And if stars aren’t their thing? Other nocturnal adventures include diving or snorkelling excursions, when
they’ll see very different creatures to those familiar from daytime dips.
Adding to the overall experience are fortnightly sunset performances by local Boduberu dancers. And, of course, there’s the resort’s extraordinary attention to detail throughout, taking personalisation to heights matched only by the stars themselves.
Zoe Saunders, senior product manager, Indian Ocean at Inspiring Travel, says: “The island’s remote location means there is little light pollution, and its proximity to the equatorial latitude offers spectacular views of both the southern and northern hemisphere constellations.”
Book it: Inspiring Travel offers seven nights’ B&B at the Nautilus from £8,853pp, including flights and transfers; inspiringtravel.co.uk, thenautilusmaldives.com
EXPLORA ATACAMA
CHILE
Chile’s Atacama Desert is renowned for its clear night skies. The combination of desert dryness, high altitude and scant light pollution lends itself to offering some of the world’s best astronomical observations. And where better for clients to cast their eyes skyward than Explora Atacama? The luxury hotel has its own observatory and a team of expert guides, all of which makes comfortable work of contemplating the cosmos.
“Explora is currently the only Atacama hotel with an observatory,” explains Journey Latin America’s business development manager Laura Rendell-Dunn. “Every guest can join a stargazing tour that lasts about an hour and explains the southern hemisphere’s constellations.”
For the darkest conditions, Rendell-Dunn recommends avoiding the nights either side of full moon, and travelling in the driest months between May and October. “Also, advise clients that stargazing tours run as late as 11pm, so if they’d prefer something earlier, they should book their slot upon check-in.”
Book it: Journey Latin America offers an eight-night luxury holiday to Santiago, Atacama and Valparaiso from £5,773pp, including B&B accommodation (full board at Explora) and all transfers, excluding flights; journeylatinamerica.com, explora.com
Five more star picks
- Several game lodges in South Africa’s Kruger ecosystem offer stargazing; try Kambaku (kambakulodge.com) in the Timbavati Reserve for its Overnight Hide and open-air sleep-outs.
- Kenya’s Loisaba Star Beds offer a similar experience (elewanacollection.com).
- Over in the Caribbean, luxurious Jade Mountain (jademountain.com) serves private dinners on a Celestial Terrace.
- Or keep clients closer to home in Les Villages Etoilles (Star Villages) in France’s Haute-Provence Unesco Geopark; the Logis Hotel in Mirabeau makes a useful base (logishotels.com).
- Go higher still near Tenerife’s Mount Teide, Europe’s tallest peak at astronomy-friendly Bahia del Duque (thetaishotels.com).
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