A 32-bedroom resort and spa called Tierra Atacama is to open in February next year in the village of San Pedro de Atacama, a desert oasis in the Chilean Altiplano.

The US$7m (4.9m euro, £3.4m) development will be situated at the gateway to the Atacama Desert and boast views of sandscapes, salt valleys and volcanoes.

Owned and managed by the Purcell family, who also operate the Chilean resort Ski Portillo, Tierro Atacama’s wellness offering will be called the Uma Spa, after the local Indian word for ‘water’.

The exterior of Uma was designed by the Chilean firm Rodrigo Searle and Mathiaz while interiors will be created by Alexandra Edwards and Carolina Delpiano. Local horticulture students designed the resort’s landscaping.

Covering 5,060sq ft (470sq m), spa facilities will include four treatment rooms, a garden, an outdoor swimming pool, whirlpool and both a Turkish and Finnish sauna.

Treatments will include a full range of body therapies such as exfoliations, wraps and massages.

Signature therapies will include scrubs and baths using lithium-rich salt from the Atacama salt flat and wraps using volcanic mud from the altiplano. Essential oils and Chilean gems and crystals will also be used.