ESO Hotel at Cerro Paranal is the accommodation for Paranal Observatory in Chile since 2002. It is mainly used for the ESO scientists and engineers who work there on a roster system. It has been called a "boarding house on Mars", because the desert surroundings are Mars-like, and an "Oasis for astronomers". It is not a commercial hotel, and the public cannot book rooms.
Southwest facade of the hotel at dusk
Star trails over the remote ESO Hotel (Paranal Residencia) in Chile
The Residencia under construction at the end of 2000.
The ESO Hotel in 2012.
Paranal Observatory is an astronomical observatory operated by the European Southern Observatory (ESO). It is located in the Atacama Desert of Northern Chile on Cerro Paranal at 2,635 m (8,645 ft) altitude, 120 km (70 mi) south of Antofagasta. By total light-collecting area, it is the largest optical-infrared observatory in the Southern Hemisphere; worldwide, it is second to the Mauna Kea Observatory on Hawaii.
Cerro Paranal is the observatory's main-peak where the VLT (four units) and VST (right) are located
The four VLTs and ATs and the VST on the main peak and VISTA in the background
Main entrance of the Paranal Observatory.
A 360-degree panorama of the southern sky above the Paranal platform
