Uxua Casa Hotel travel tips and stories. Vacations ideas, cruises, spa and resorts

Uxua Casa Hotel is a compound of nine renovated houses, two restaurants and a spa opened by Wilbert Das, the creative director of Diesel, in the Brazilian fishing village of Trancoso. Uxua is not being billed as any kind of extension of the Diesel lifestyle, and it’s clearly not Italy-comes-to-Brazil. It’s not even Brazil-goes-global — the houses, some dating to the 1500s, were redone by local builders using traditional construction techniques and recycled materials.

Das also wanted the experience of being at Uxua to feel like Trancoso and nowhere else, and he perhaps wanted to bring something of a higher purpose to what has become a luxury playground. Bob Shevlin, who’s spearheaded much of Uxua’s community involvement, hired local workers. To make sure every employee could read and write, Das and Shevlin established a school at the property that now offers its students a chance to learn English and to earn a state-certified high-school diploma. They’ve also established a hospitality school on site, with the effect of raising the level of professionalism at businesses all around the village.