Slideshow of the Week: UXUA Casa Hotel & Spa

Jun 18th, 2014

Alice Marshall Public Relations

This 11-casa property is located in the colonial fishing village of Trancoso, in the southeast of Brazil’s subtropical Bahia state, which has long been a haven for artists, hippies, and naturalists who flocked to the area in the 1970s and built a free-spirited culture among colorful antique casas and spectacular beaches. UXUA contains four restored fisherman casas dating from the 1500s plus seven more recent constructions created by hand using reclaimed materials and traditional building methods, including a treehouse and a restored ceramic atelier. The one to three bedroom casas have been harmoniously integrated into the town’s historical center without signage. Four casas face Trancoso’s 500-year-old grassy village square, the Quadrado, one of the most picturesque settings in all of South America.

Owner and designer Wilbert Das, formerly the creative director of Italian fashion label Diesel, was inspired to open the property after frequent visits to Trancoso. Drawing on the spirit and ideals of the locals, the Netherlands-born Das worked side-by-side with native artisans and Pataxó Indians to create pieces such as sinks and bathtubs carved from fallen tree trunks found on the property and shower heads shaped from local woods. The hotel, which is an hour and a half flight from both Rio de Janeiro or São Paulo, and one hour from Salvador, has two restaurants specializing in home-style local seafood, a spa with custom UXUA cosmetic products, a gym, a swimming pool lined with aventurine crystals thought by locals to have healing qualities, plus a beach annex.

Trancoso’s rustic-chic and authenticity has made it one of the top destinations for global jet-setters looking for something truly different.

Flip through to see more images of the luxurious UXUA Casa Hotel & Spa!