UXUA Casa Hotel & Spa

A longer review than usual because this property merits it. On arrival we were greeted by a young team, and immediately relieved of luggage, which was taken to our house (yes, you rent houses here, not rooms). We were given a tour by a lady who simply said “welcome to paradise” and she wasn’t exaggerating. It’s just an oasis. So lush, and green. Everything is built to blend in, the pool looks almost as though it was meant to be there naturally. The houses are made of mainly natural materials and are what might be called “rustic” but that doesn’t mean they’re not full of modern comforts! The shower (we had two, on an outside balcony, beautifully screened with natural vegetation), was powerfully and instant very hot water. The terrace had an enormous day bed. The kitchen had a large fridge and all you need to make a meal. The bed was king size and very comfortable. There’s a large screen tv (we didn’t watch it at all) and there’s effective air conditioning. The decor is contemporary but uses old items as well as new. It’s effective. We are at the restaurant for dinner once and it was very good. We had massages that were outstanding. And let’s not overlook the beach bar which reserved a sofa for each house daily and serves delicious food and drinks. The beach is a 10 minute walk down a hill and across a mango grove, but theres a courtesy car if you don’t fancy that. The beach is the stuff of dreams. Breakfast is also extremely good. What I love is that I’ve no idea how many houses there are here! It never feels busy and you bump into few people as you walk around, so it feels very private and secret. Is there anything that can be improved? Few hotels are perfect. If I’m being hyper critical, the wifi is patchy. I’d personally suggest that a property of this type might benefit from a no kids policy. I don’t mean to be harsh but it’s a sophisticated offering and it’s not as though they encourage children (there’s no kids pool) but some do stay and I really think other properties would be more suitable. Communication with reception/concierge is encouraged by WhatsApp rather than in person. I don’t mind that but some may prefer a more direct approach so I mention it just for awareness. Reception isn’t staffed past 10pm so I’ve no idea what happens after that! I’m struggling to offer much else that can be improved. If you want a proper escape from the madness, this is a great option. I’d love to come back soon.

I hesitate to write a review in English because we Americans can treat beautiful places like Disney World, however, after such an amazing experience I can't not write a glowing review. If you appreciate natural beauty, can respect and appreciate local culture and custom, and love adventure, run don't walk to Troncoso and UXUA. Pictures can't do this place justice, it's breathtaking. All the lodging and amenities are perfect and well thought through. All of the decor and furniture are made by local artisans. Artisans you can meet and learn from. The people are really who make UXUA shine. Adriano worked security for our area of the resort (we stayed in Casa Das Artes, a beautiful villa full of local art and a beautiful private pool). He was incredibly helpful, warm, and welcoming. He helped us with our (very bad) Portuguese, advised us on local customs and good destinations, was extremely attentive and made us feel super secure (the area is very safe, the house is so beautiful it attracts lots of tourists taking pictures and asking questions). Gisele was a concierge that helped us as a translator during a very immersive experience with a local ceramicist (Ze) that welcomed us into his home and taught us about his work. She was super fun to spend time with, very knowledgeable and a great translator. Honestly, are too many great people working at UXUA to mention them all, Leo was an awesome and welcoming chef who very patiently taught us how to make Moqueca (so good!), Harlan was a super helpful, friendly, and knowledgable concierge who helped us with our plans. The breakfasts were incredible. It was such an amazing experience from the moment we got there and got the tour from Jimmy to when Harlan saw us off the the airport. Can't say enough good things about Troncoso and UXUA. We will be back.

wonderful discovery! Although there was confusion with the pick-up they more than made up for it. The staff were very friendly and attention to detail in all manner was very good. Beautifully decorated. Food was lovely. Beach area very good too. Nothing was a problem. I fully recommend and would return without doubt. Distance to beach is totally walkable

We stayed at Uxua. It was a frustrating visit and the worst experience of our many hotels in Latin America, including hotels that cost 50% less than Uxua. The Uxua experience didn't overcome Uxua's beauty. Before posting this review, we emailed Uxua -- to share our experience and hoping they'd think it was worth responding to. We were wrong. Since Uxua didn't think it was worth even acknowledging our email, much less apologizing for our experience, Uxua must think our experience was the one that we should've had -- and so we're sharing it here. ____________________ Uxua is, design-wise, a lovely hotel. And its location is perfect. But our stay there was incredibly frustrating -- daily -- and we had the kind of experience there that was unbefitting of even a 2-star hotel. It was inexcusable for a hotel that wants everyone to believe it's a 5-star hotel. In our experience, it's not. And until the guest experience can catch up with the beautiful design, it can't possibly be viewed as a luxury or 5-star hotel. Uxua's guest experience failures weren't limited to one issue or one day or one kind of issue. Uxua's failures involve maintenance, housekeeping, technology, and concierge. It’s every touchpoint. 1. No evening staff after 10 pm -- which isn't fatal if you have staff available by phone. 2. But after 10 pm, staff doesn't answer the after-hours hotel number or outside emergency number. This is just not ok (for too many reasons to list). 3. Wifi didn't work in our room -- even though we asked Uxua to fix it. In order to get a wifi signal and make calls on our cell using wifi-enabled calling, we had to take work calls from the hotel’s public areas, including confidential calls. This not ok -- particularly for an expensive hotel where you pay a premium to be in a nice hotel room...in part, to work in...and particularly for us because we have a lot of confidential work calls. How does McDonald’s provide working wifi – but Uxua doesn’t?) 4. The phone never worked in our room -- even though we asked Uxua to fix it. 5. The door lock from our room to the outside didn't work -- even though we asked Uxua to fix it. (How is it that we, as guests, are the ones that need to bring such a basic maintenance issue to Uxua's attention? How can the housekeepers not notice that the doors don’t lock?) 6. Even as to the outside doors in our rooms that did lock, housekeeping routinely didn’t lock our doors – even though we asked that the doors be locked. (Why must we ask once, much less repeatedly, to lock our doors?) 7. We think (but aren't certain) that, after hours, there’s no way to get out of the hotel – because the gates at the front desk to the street and to the Quadrado were locked. (We hope we’re mistaken. Good thing there wasn't a fire when we were there, eh?) This was our experience. It was so frustrating that, after the first two days, we spent our third (and last) day outside the hotel becau

Estivemos no hotel há uns 6 anos atrás e foi um boa experiência e por isso resolvemos retornar. Dessa vez pegamos uma das melhores suítes do hotel. Era uma casa chamada Irenio. Fica de frente ao quadrado. Já começa o problema aí. Todos os dias fomos dormir mais de duas da manhã com o barulho do som que vem dos bares ao redor e éramos acordados assim que o dia clareava pois não tinha cortinas e a luz do dia entrava pelas frestas da janela. A casa tinha um cheiro forte de ambiente fechado. Sugiro colocar cortinas, aromatizadores para deixar mais aconchegante e o ambiente cheiroso ou pelo menos sem odor desagradável. O atendimento também deixou muito a desejar. Colaboradores educados mas falta acolhimento. Falam com vc somente o necessário, não informaram que havia chá da tarde, ficamos sabendo porque passamos pela piscina. Café da manhã extremamente fraco, serviço lento e pouquíssima variedade. Nos amenities do banheiro não havia sequer touca de cabelo e a camareira falou que não ofereciam. Não tinha um mimo de boa noite como em outros Hotéis Boutique, inclusive da região. Tomamos café somente um dia no hotel e fomos pagar café a parte em outros hotéis de tão ruim que foi a experiência. O dono estava por lá, mas também não perguntou como estava sendo a estadia. Por isso veio através daqui registrar a insatisfação para que ele tenha ciência. Viajamos pelo Brasil todo em vários hotéis Boutique com o mesmo valor de diária com uma experiência muito mais agradável, acolhedora e que ficam em nossa memória. Não recomendo.

O hotel é lindo, a casa que ficamos era uma delícia, bonita, bem localizada no meio do quadrado (mas tem barulho das músicas ao vivo do quadrado). Todos os funcionários são bastante educados, mas as coisas lá dentro parecem não funcionar, a comida é bem ruim, mal feita mesmo, o café da manhã é uma tristeza, os frios parecem que saíram do supermercado, grossos, os bolos sem sabor, tapioca seca, suco de laranja industrializado, esperava muito mais. As camareiras nos acordaram 2 vezes por falta de comunicação com o concierge. Os travesseiros são bem ruins, meu marido dormiu quase todas as noites com as almofadas da sala. No último dia o hotel ficou o praticamente o dia todo sem energia e a nossa casa sem água fria, o gerador do hotel não estava funcionando e no fim do dia, ao escurecer, por insistência dos hóspedes nos realocaram (e os hóspedes que quiseram) em outro hotel para passarmos a noite, tomarmos banho e carregar os celulares. A internet ficou instável e ruim todos os dias da nossa estadia. Resumo: não vale nunca o que cobram, foi uma decepção apesar de ser um lugar tão lindo.