Travelbeat Inside Information Brazil Innovative 5-Star Boutique House Hotel Prepares For Its First Full Season The 2009 / 2010 holiday and summer season in Trancoso, a sleepy 16th century seaside village in the south of Bahia, will be extra festive this year as UXUA Casa Hotel heads into its first full season. UXUA (pronounced ooh-shoo-ah) is a tropical utopia composed of nine unique houses offering total privacy with the added comfort of 5-Star hotel services. This stunning and unique destination enjoyed a May 2009 grand opening and has already hosted the likes of 11 world-famous supermodels and photographer Terry Richardson during the 2010 Pirelli Calendar shoot, as well as well-known Brazilian socialites and celebs. Quintal da Glória - 1 bedroom with ensuite bath, 80sqm, 2nd floor, spacious outdoor balcony with bed and eating area overlooking pool and gardens, panoramic views. Nozinho - 2 bedrooms with ensuite bath, 165 sq m, private gate / parking beside house, direct access road to beach, patio and large private gardens. UXUA, which in local native Pataxó Indian language means “marvelous,” is under the ownership and direction of long-time Diesel Creative Director Wilbert Das who realized the project as a tribute to the area of southern Bahia which he loves. Over 3-years Wilbert tapped Colonial, indigenous, and Afro-Bahian histories, arts and customs, and collaborated with local artisans using traditional building methods and recycled materials. Textiles, art, crafts, furniture and structural fabrications from repurposed woods and scrap iron were sourced locally. Flowers, spices and fruits from overgrown gardens grace guest rooms and tables. Menus include the catch of the day with a Bahian flair, with local dishes being the emphasis, but also complimented by foods from other regions of this vast country with a taste of Mediterranean fusion mixed in. A selection of international wines and spirits is available along with UXUA’s inventive list of hundreds of tropical drinks and cocktails. What does a European designer bring to the world of a secluded getaway? For starters, simplicity of the understated barefoot luxury kind. Then there’s environmentally and socially progressive vision, which has resulted in the UXUA’s helping preserve the local Atlantic rainforest and marine wildlife through a daily program employing local fisherman, as well as the hotel’s very active support of local cultural institutions such as Trancoso’s academy of Capoeira (afro-brazilian martial arts inspired dance), for which UXUA is the principle sponsor. Accommodations at UXUA are found in nine extraordinary casas, each exquisitely outfitted with all of the accoutrements and special services that bring the property to the 5-Star level. Each has an indoor / outdoor living room, a full gourmet kitchen and sumptuous bedrooms (1-3 depending on the casa) with ensuite bath. The lake-like swimming pool is crafted from 40,000 pebbles of green aventurine quartz thought to be one of the most powerful healing crystals in the world. The design scheme throughout the property reflects Trancoso’s past, as three of UXUA’s casas are restorations, having been among the 50 small houses Jesuit missionaries built in 1586, and placed around a village green carved out of the rainforest and facing a small village church on a hilltop overlooking the sea. The Jesuits designed this to be a utopian community to bring indigenous peoples to a state of grace, a history that was largely forgotten until the late 1970s when hippies and naturalists began rediscovering the Atlantic marshes and rainforest along Trancoso’s 24km, eight-beach coastline. Dining at UXUA features organically-sourced Bahian fusion cuisine served at the poolside or beachfront restaurants. A full-service spa features indoor and outdoor treatment rooms and an array of treatments utilizing locally sourced ingredients. The gym offers yoga and pilates, but also instruction in capoeira and local dances taught to individual guests or in small groups, with instruction provided exclusively by local, native instructors. A rustic Beach Lounge 5-minutes walk from the casas offers guests the perfect venue to relax on one of Trancoso’s most specactular stretches of beach with their own private sofas. The Beach Lounge was built by utilizing abandoned fishing boats that were left on the site, which now serve as a bar and covered sitting areas along the beach. A massage area, restaurant, private dining space, volleyball, an open-air gym and capoeira training are all available at the Beach Lounge. Guests fly into Sao Paolo, Salvador, or Rio, and connect via numerous national and international airlines with multiple direct daily flights to Porto Seguro, where a scenic 45-minute drive through beautiful Bahian landscape brings them to the jewel of the southern Bahian coast, Trancoso and UXUA. For additional information on UXUA Casa Hotel, please visit www.uxua.com. (Widness & Company Public Relations) Back to Front Page