The world's biggest salt flat is about to get its most stylish place to sleep. Samkani Camp, a new boutique property from A&K Sanctuary, is due to open in late 2027 on Bolivia's Salar de Uyuni — and it's shaping up as one of the most memorable hotel launches in South America this decade.
The camp will consist of five architect-designed Airstream suites plus a sixth trailer dedicated to dining. The team behind it draws on A&K Sanctuary's experience building low-impact mobile camps in Africa, so expect the kind of design-first, small-footprint approach you'd find at a top safari camp — just parked on 10,500 square kilometres of blinding white salt instead of savannah.
Why bother getting so remote? The Salar de Uyuni is a genuine once-in-a-lifetime sight. In the wet season, roughly December to April, a thin layer of water turns the entire flat into a giant natural mirror that doubles the sky. In the dry months, the surface cracks into striking geometric salt patterns, and visitors can drive out across the crust for hours. Either way, the real showstopper may come after dark: with zero light pollution on the Altiplano, the stargazing here is about as good as it gets anywhere on Earth.
The name is a fitting nod to that. Samkani means "the one who dreams" in Aymara, the indigenous language of Bolivia's high plateau.
Getting there takes some planning. The only direct flights from Europe to Bolivia run from Madrid — Air Europa and Boliviana de Aviación both fly to Santa Cruz de la Sierra, a journey of around 11 hours. From Santa Cruz there's no flight to Uyuni, so you'll need to continue via La Paz and connect from there.
A smarter play, if you have the time, is to stitch a few countries together. Bogotá is reachable directly from London, Paris, Amsterdam, Frankfurt and Barcelona, making an easy first stop before flying on to La Paz and then Uyuni. Lima in Peru and Santiago in Chile are the only other airports with direct La Paz connections — handy if you want to tack on Machu Picchu or the Atacama to the same trip.
For travellers who already have the salt flat on their list, the timing question is simple: go now for the classic 4x4 tours and basic lodging, or wait until late 2027 to watch the sunset from the deck of an Airstream in the middle of nowhere. Given how few genuinely luxurious options exist on the flats, Samkani Camp will likely book up fast once reservations open — and it turns one of the planet's most surreal places into something you can properly settle into.