Entrepreneurs who trade big city life for the country welcome guests to their new homes with enthusiasm
Being treated to the personalized hospitality of the hotel owners is the luxury and differential at some boutique accommodations, affectionately cared for by those who live and have fallen in love with that particular destination. This is the case at many REMOTE Lodgings, where owners make the hotels home and convey a sense of family to guests and staff.
For visitors, the results are usually unforgettable memories and a more authentic, closer connection to the place. For hoteliers, even though work and family are often intertwined, the joy, passion and satisfaction of seeing “dreams come true” usually outweigh any difficulty, serving as the reason for these projects’ success.
Vila de Alter Pousada Boutique Amazônia
With the goal of taking care of the planet, photographer Regina Santos and journalist Andréa Aymar gave up their hectic lives in Brasília to move to Alter do Chão, a small village of paradisiacal beaches in the Brazilian Amazon. They moved in 2016, determined to build the region’s first boutique lodge – Vila de Alter Pousada Boutique Amazônia . Alongside a team of local residents, they receive guests with a warm welcome. The purpose is to make travelers feel like they’re part of the village and that the hotel is their home in the forest.
Inspired by the architecture of stilt housing, Vila de Alter was carefully built with reforested wood, recycled plant fiber tiles and ecological sewage systems for basic sanitation. Regina, Andréa and their dog Corisco offer visitors the possibility of a transformative immersive experience in the forest.
Casa dos Arandis
The same passion and urge to live more closely connected to nature inspired two other REMOTE families to embark on the journey of hospitality far from home. Ten years ago, entrepreneurs Cacau and Nanana decided to leave Rio de Janeiro behind and move to the beach paradise that is the Maraú Peninsula in Bahia.
Enthusiasts of the region, they created Casa dos Arandis , sustainable lodge with just four (soon to be six) bungalows that features its owners’ personalities. Nanana’s son Joca came along to help manage the hotel. Now they live in a house right in front of the hotel and, as they report, there are virtually no boundaries between hotel, home, guests and family.
Three dogs, Toddy, Lilica and Nina, and two cats, Dayse and Sebastian, are also part of the group, helping to welcome visitors. The newest residents are three horses– Ragnar, Ninjinski and Agro. For Nanana, living in the hotel is a dream come true: “We’re happy with everything we’ve built and we didn’t think it would happen this fast. Now we understand that nothing in life is impossible if you just go for it.”
PATA Lodge
Marcelo Schaefer, his wife and two children went further. Four years ago, they left Brazil for Chilean Patagonia, to live in the charming PATA Lodge and smart villages. The project that combines accommodations, organic farms, educational programs and a sustainable community began eight years ago and today has 14 residents from four families.
“We sought to have a simpler, lighter, healthier life. Now we’re more connected with nature. We have a family life. We live in a community, so we prioritize interpersonal relationships, synergy, empathy – these are very relevant values for us here,” Marcelo explains.
