Wilbert Das

Who is the man behind UXUA? Meet Wilbert Das, who has served as creative director of the Italian fashion label Diesel since 1993. UXUA is his first independent hospitality project.

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March 7, 2009

In June of 2004 I came for the first time to Trancoso by recommendation of a dear friend (who said the place felt like my home ….).

I was traveling on my own and was immediately struck by the beauty of this quiet fisherman’s village, in fact it was so quiet that I worried about being bored here. It turned out to be the complete opposite and after 10 days I left with the typical Brazilian ’saudade’ and could not wait to come back.

The next several holidays I continued to return to Bahia and Trancoso and began looking for a place to build a home for myself. After a year of searching for the best spot I came upon an old house facing the town’s Quadrado (historic square overlooking the sea) which had been restored to an Indian style pousada with a beautiful but overgrown garden hidden behind the house. This house and land were known then as the ‘Gulab Mahal’, and were a bit of a mystery to most of the people in town because the property was hidden from view except for its towering tree-tops.

I purchased the Gulab Mahal from the Swiss owners and started remodeling the Quadrado house still thinking of it to be a second home and possible design studio, but once into the work the idea took hold of restoring other homes around the garden to create a small community of houses with the services of an hotel, really for me the ideal way to stay on holiday and something I imagined other travelers might appreciate.

Once we started down that path it became very exciting to put together a team (including Andre Lattari - the irreplaceable manager of the UXUA Casa Hotel) and we worked continuously for 2-years in the most satisfying way I have ever experienced; collaborating with local builders, artisans, and artists in a free process which allowed them to express their own creativity through this project. They amazed us on countless occasions with their contributions, and I feel really fortunate to have been able to take advantage of so many local traditions and resources (and at this point I should extend a thank you to Flavio Araujo and Fernando Sales, owners of the wonderful Punto do Camarao hotel in nearby Caraiva, who offered not only their great taste but an amazing expertise in how to find the best craftsmen from throughout Bahia).

Some of our decorative elements were made by Pataxó Indians who live on a reservation just up the coast from Trancoso. One of these Indians loved the old trees and variety of plants in the garden of the property and described the place to me with the Pataxó word for ‘marvelous’ - which I borrowed and translated as UXUA, giving the hotel its name.

All throughout the process of creating UXUA we stayed motivated by the idea of having our guests staying next door to the (unfortunately) few natives that still live in the Quadrado and who have been more then welcoming to us since the first day we arrived. I’m a very rational Dutch guy but for me the Quadrado has some magic power that I have only encountered here, it completely relaxes me and takes away all the stress the minute I step foot on it.

It remains a very special thing for me about Trancoso that there are so many people in the community, natives and gringos alike, taking their time and doing an amazing job in protecting the aesthetic and environment of the area.

For me this has become sort of my dream project, in line with all my values and completely independent from my regular job as Creative Director of a fashion label. And though this is really my first step into the hospitality world, by working in a town and a part of the world I love so much, it has felt like a familiar and natural extension of my career.

Hope to be welcoming you soon.

Wilbert