La Ritoqueña

My wife and I choose La Ritoquena based on a favorable citing by Lonely Planet, near the end of a long trip in Chile, when relaxation was at the top of our list. La Ritoquena is a six room guesthouse owned and operated by a lovely couple, Diego and Dayenu. Diego speaks excellent English and is very engaging. He is also an excellent chef. We spent four nights here in March and were the only guests, the start of the offseason, except for our last night, which was a Saturday night. La Ritoquena is right on the beach, in fact at the northern end of a beautiful beach that goes on for miles and miles and is virtually empty. The rooms are in three duplexes, each with rooms top and bottom, with a shared bath on the landing between the two rooms. It was not at all an issue to share the bathroom on the one night there were guests in the other room. Our room was somewhat on the small side but was clean, comfortable, and modern, with a small balcony looking out on the beach and crashing surf. There are two small restaurants on the beach, but we elected to have three of our four dinners at La Ritoquena and Diego delighted us with Pisco sours and delectable three-course meals. During our stay, we did all three activities sponsored by the hotel. We rode fat tire bicycles and then horses down the pristine beach. We also had a wonderful yoga class with their next door neighbor, Sharon. She actually got me to stand on my head for the first time in 50 years! My wife and I were sad to leave at the end of our stay because we were really starting to feel like family.