Wilbert Das, Creative Director of Italian label Diesel, launches an independent project, the UXUA Casa Hotel (pronounced oo-SHOO-ahh) located in Trancoso, a colorful fishing village on Brazil's idyllic Bahian coast.Situated on Trancoso's historic 'Quadrado' – a grassy cliff-top square closed to traffic, except the occasional horse – UXUA's unique 1 - 3 bedroom houses are self-catering or fully serviced according to preference. The units are complemented by a one-of-a-kind aventurine quartz swimming pool, a restaurant/lounge, library, gym, and spa.Three renovated fishermen's houses face directly onto the Quadrado, and the remaining six homes (including a multi-level treehouse made entirely of recycled wood) are nestled around pools in a lush tropical garden of flowers, fruits, and towering coconut, cocoa, and jackfruit trees.Wilbert conceived UXUA as a tribute to the region of Bahia. Created using local and recycled materials and traditional construction methods, the hotel was realized over a two-year period in personal collaboration with local artisans and builders.The resulting architectural mix showcases southern Bahian and Indian influences alongside a rustic modernism that nods to Wilbert's work in contemporary fashion and furniture design. The houses are as unique inside as they are on their exteriors: each is filled with antiques and Bahian art as well as hand-made furniture and fixtures created on site together with Trancoso craftsmen.Complimented by a private beachfront annex constructed of grounded fishing boats set beside the ocean mangroves 5-minutes walk from the Quadrado, UXUA offers full immersion in a natural and traditional Bahian environment. UXUA is a place where guests can experience a new level of casual luxury – from the comfort 'of their own home' – in one of Brazil's most enchanting destinations.

Trancoso is notable for having a very strong preservation movement, already present in the town since the 1970’s with the arrival of ‘hippies’ who came to live in this simple rustic paradise.These hippies are called ‘biribandos’, and had the farsighted vision to help the nativos (natives of Trancoso) appreciate how special was the natural beauty of their town and its beaches and nature.For this reason the entire center of town, around the historic Quadrado where UXUA Casa Hotel is, has been blocked from motorized traffic already almost 30-years, and the 50 small, coloroful fisherman houses around the Quadrado must be maintained in their original form.The beaches, where the UXUA Praia Bar (beach bar) also prohibit motorized buggies or motorized quads, and even recreational boating is prohibited.Large commercial projects of hotels or resorts have for the most part been blocked from the area, with instead there only having been allowed the development of small, boutique properties, well-hidden into the environment.

The preservation of Trancoso has been a passion for Wilbert Das, and in developing his project here he found himself collaborating with local builders and artisians who themselves were sensitive to issues of the environment and shared interest in using traditional methods of building.The idea of using recycled materials on the property was born in part from the fact that the large flowering garden in which UXUA sits was abandoned for years and contained enormous quantity of fallen trees and branches which were really begging to be used by skilled carpenters and Wilbert. From this starting point expanded the concept of finding recycled wood floors, also old doors and door-handles and fixtures from abandoned homes and buildings and farm; a supply of old roof tiles came available at some point in the project, and a momentum began of working in this way.Here below is listed a few of the notable recycled materials used or conservation approaches applied in the creation of the UXUA Casa Hotel, and showing the emphasis on organic materials sourced whenever possible locally or from nearby areas of Brazil:

* Many shower heads we made from pieces of eucalyptos which were pieces remaining from the construction, used in the traditional manner of making pillars and beams; we took ends of the eucalyptos beams and created shower-heads from it – it was an ‘invention’ made by the construction team working with Wilbert and experimenting with many different shapes

* The main dining table in the bar area near the pool was created using a large cashew-nut tree branch (Brazil has lots of cashew-nut trees, in fact on almost any beach walking vendors will sell you amazing bags of cashews). This branch is simply placed on the floor and a single giant piece of hardwood placed on top of it, with the hardwood being cut in a thick, clean form, making a nice contrast with the twisted, knobby, cashew-nut branch. This work and many others at the property was created with a local carpenter, a former fisherman, named Dati, who is amazingly skilled with wood and also built by hand almost all the windows and doors of the property using in many cases recycled wood

* The wood shingles are recycled from old houses of the native people of Trancoso, who often throw them away because they require a lot more maintenence than newer, ceramic tiles. But in the UXUA property with regular care the wooden tiles still function well and are beautiful. These old tiles are created from all different kinds of Brasilian wood, such as paraju, tatajuba, aderno etc

* The floor at variuos casas, such as the Casa da Árvore (the treehouse), ESTÚDIO and the suítes of Gulab Majal, and casa Seu João, are built from abandoned wood found at several falling-down, old farm-houses in Minas Gerais, Brazil. We restored these woods, and they are laid on the floors in different shapes, the pieces each slightly different in color and texture

* the Casa da Árvore (treehouse) actually has as supports four trunks of fallen trees from the property, and all of its walls are built from the recycled wood from Minas Gerais

* The same recycled woods from Minas Gerais were used to made the tables and all the furnitures in our offices

* most of the clay to build the kitchen, the pool bar area and the beach bar were taken from the ground near our parking area, and this clay is applied on the walls in a style typical of the Pataxo Indians who live in the area (in fact they taught us the technique – which is called ‘pau a pichi’). The Indians also contributed numerous decorative items – all organic – made from seeds, feathers, carved goards, etc…)

* At the UXUA Praia Bar (the beach bar of the UXUA Casa Hotel) the bar is actually built into an old fishermans boat that has been there for years lying ashore, and also the dj booth is another abandoned fishing boat

* The tables of the beach bar were made from spare wood from construction

* The cover of the sofa in pool bar social area, casa Eugenia and casa Seu João are old canvas... recycled and overdyed with color. This canvas was actually used originally for covering the back of trucks, like one sees on old military vehicles

* in the pool bar social area of the hotel, the long wooden bar is made from carved treetrunks of fallen trees from a farm outside Trancoso, and the bar fixtures and cabinets are created from the recycled wood from Minas Gerais

* many lamps were made by left pieces of wood from construction...as well as benches, hangers, shelves etc. * papercraft are all in recycled paper: from business cards to internal memos – of course UXUA is not the only ones to do this – but actually some of the UXUA paper is locally produced, as Trancoso has a very unique small cottage industry of ‘home-made’ paper recycling, done by artisians, who create by hand really beautiful papers in different textures and weights

* an outdoor shower is created from a single giant treetrunk of found in this exact ‘hollow’ shape at a farm outside Trancoso

* numerous benches and seats on the property are carved from dead trees found in the area, some left totally rustic in shape and some carved to give some playfull form

* several sinks of the property are carved directly out of fallen trees, in particular one giant jacca tree trunk more the 3 m long has been used in the casa Estudio to create a twin-sink, carved directly into the wood, and placed in front of a vertical garden in an open bathroom

* during the construction period we saved all spare wood with the objective of having enough left over to rebuild some of the constantly-in-need-of-repair walking paths which cross the water and mangrove down at Trancoso’s beaches. In the end we rebuilt one of these entirely paths entirely – keeping the old rustic style

* all the wooden pathways within the UXUA property are made from recycled wood

* some of the door-handles and locks on the property have been restored from old abandoned buildings of the area

* The entire project has been build without cutting a single tree, therefore some of the trees are growing through the roofs of two different houses, casa Estudio and Casa Eugenia

* The hot water in the casa hotel is heated through solar energy, with the panels hidden on top of the wooden roof tiles, out of site, making a really interesting contrast

* Most of the bought furniture in the UXUA is antique or vintage brasilian ‘modern’ design furniture

RATES (valid from Dec/2009 to Nov/2010)

L: Low Season (from 01/03 to 30/06) / H: High Season (from 01/07 to 28/02) Apartments: QUINTAL DA GLÓRIA – ESTÚDIO L: R$ 830,00 / H: R$ 1.080,00 Houses with 1 suite: SEU PEDRINHO - CASA DA ÁRVORE - SEU JOÃO L: R$ 1.030,00 / H: R$ 1.340,00 House with 2 suites (Attatched): NOZINHO L: R$ 1.480,00 / H: R$ 1.930,00 Houses with 2 suites: GULAB MAHAL – EUGÊNIA L: R$ 1.480,00 / H: R$ 1.930,00 House with 3 suites: ZÉ E ZILDA L: R$ 1.630,00 / H: R$ 2.120,00 HOLIDAYS - Packages for national holidays have a minimum of 4 days and high season rates are applied. CHRISTMAS AND NEW YEAR - Prices under consultation only SERVICE CHARGE - We charge 10% service tax over the daily rates, consumption in the hotel and at the beach bar; and 15% over hired services. EXTRA BED - In the houses where it is possible to put an extra bed (under consultation), the daily rate will have an equivalent increase to the number of people, considering 2 people per suíte. That is, in a one bedroom house, the extra bed costs 50% of the daily rate. In a 2 bedrooms house the extra bed corresponds to 25% the daily rate. CHECK-IN - Check-in starts at 12:00 PM, depending on the house’s availability with no extra charge. For early check-in between 12:00 AM and 6:00 AM an extra daily rate will be charged, and between 5:00 AM and 9:00 AM 50% of the daily rate will be charged. CHECK-OUT - Check-out is at 12:00 PM, but it can be extended up to 3:00 PM, depending on the house’s availability, with no extra charge. For late check-out between 3:00 PM and 6:00 PM there is a charge of 30% of the daily rate, and between 6:00 PM and 9:00 PM there is a charge of 50% of the daily rate. For check-out after 9:00 PM an extra daily rate will be charged. FOREING CURRENCY - According to daily exchange, always based in Brazilian Reais (R$). CANCELLATION A cancelation request should be followed by fax to UXUA Casa Hotel, through + 55 73 3668 2277 or by e-mail (reservas@uxua.com.br). For the safety of our clients we don’t accept cancellation requests by phone. According to the article 26, 1, of the Brazilian Consumer’s Code, the right of complaining over any clauses of the Cancellation Policy will assign in 30 days counting from the reservation confirmation by UXUA Casa Hotel. In case of a partial quitclaim of the contracted days when the guests are already in the hotel, there’s going to be no pay back of the amount quit before. LOW SEASON (01/03 to 30/11) Up to 15 days before check-in – No fine incidence. The amount deposited to the guarantee of the reservation (50% of total) can be used as credit in any other period, according to our availability, or can be delivered back to the client discounting the bank taxes. Up to 7 days before check-in – 30% fine over the amount deposited (15% over the total), and the difference can be given as credit to any other date within 180 days, according to our availability for the period.

Up to 2 days before check-in – 60% fine over the deposited amount (30% over the total), and the difference can be given as credit to any other date within 180 days, according to our availability for the period. Less then 2 days before the check-in or No Show – The deposited amount (50% of the total) will be taken as operational charges. HOLIDAYS AND HIGH SEASON (01/12 to 28/02) Up to 30 days before check-in – No fine incidence. The deposited amount for the reservation’s garanteecan be used as credit in any other period according to our availability, or can be returned to the client, discounting the bank taxes. Up to 15 days before check-in – 60% fine over the deposited amount (30% over the total), and the difference can be given as credit to any other date within 180 days, according to our availability for the period. Up to 5 days before check-in – 80% fine over the deposited amount (40% over the total), and the difference can be given as credit to any other date within 180 days, according to our availability for the period. Less than 5 days before check-in or No Show - The deposited amount (50% of the total) will be taken as operational charges. NEW YEAR PACKAGES 60 days before check-in – No penalty. The amount of 50% (required for booking) of the total could either be used as a credit (depending on the availability of the hotel) or it could be refunded to the guest without the bank taxes that were charged for the process. 35 days before check-in - Penalty of 70% of the deposit amount, the other 35% could be used as a credit towards any other date within 180 days, depending on the hotel’s availability. 15 days before check-in – Penalty of 50% of the total amount is a fee of operational services, and the other 50% could be used as a credit towards any other date within 180 days, depending on the hotel’s availability. TRANSFERENCE If the guest does not show up on the booked date, the booking could be transferred to someone else, in the same period and the same house without any penalty or operational services fees. The guest or the commercial representative (travel agencies or operators) needs to request it in writing via fax: +55 73 3668-2277 (c/o Reservations) or via email reservas@uxua.com.br, stating the name(s) of the person to be transferred to.