Yeah Awasi Atacama's hard product isn't particularly great. The pool is so small that it's effectively just a family-sized plunge pool, there's no spa, the location in the middle of town isn't as spectacular as Nayara Alto Atacama, etc. If you intend to relax in the hotel (that is, if you travel with the intent of having the hotel be your destination a large part of the time), then the Awasi would be a poor choice. But what I like about Awasi is that it gives you the luxury of not having to think/plan. You just turn up, and do anything. There's no tours agencies to send emails to, no dinners to reserve, no worries about cancellation fees for activities if you change your mind. The guide goes where you want, all the time. Hot lunches magically appear from a stove hidden in the car, dinners are always tasty (the chef is happy to cook staples like pasta off-menu), boots get magically cleaned of dirt, laundry is free. Everything just works.

Regarding Explora, I agree that it's tourism torture half the time. Been to Explora Patagonia twice in the winter season when nothing else was open, and there were days where we were shoehorned into hikes we didn't want to do because some others were overbooked, or we were the only ones to want a different activity. On both visits, we had other guests complain about feeling left behind / having no time to rest when fitter folks hiked ahead, and some of the guides were more into hiking than hospitality, to put it nicely. There's also the gamble of the crowd: one day, we could be making excellent friends on the trail, while on another, we'd get a huge family with kids talking and laughing so loudly that the trail loses any sense of solitude. The kitchen has improved slightly, but on our last visit, they still served us a broken sunny side up at breakfast (don't they have basic QC?). The spa involves an awkward, exposed walk over a road and past the vehicle garage, where you'll occasionally be battered with gale-force winds while in your bathrobe. Rooms are small, and for a place which preaches an active itinerary, laundry isn't priced in a friendly way. They also no longer offered any advanced horse-riding opportunities last season (they previously let me go after passing a proficiency test, but this time, the guide claimed the gauchos stopped the rides for safety reasons) -- this should have been reflected on their website from the get-go.

However, the views from the hotel and nearby mirador are fantastic (IMO better than the views on most of the W itself), and staying a few days guarantees a view in the event of poor weather. During the off season, an interesting option is to also use Explora as a departing point for the W trek from the Paine Grande refuge, using their private catamaran (since the normal ferry at Pudeto isn't operational). It's also a good way to explore some of the other trails around the reserve before/after the W, if you aren't driving. And unlike Tierra/Awasi, the location means you save many hours of driving over the course of a few days.