| PRESS CONTACT:
Veronique Lievre
(800) 530-7176
email
GENERAL DESCRIPTION
Carved out of a swathe of hillside jungle, floating above the Bay of
Banderas and embraced by the mountains of the Valle de la Sierra
Oriental, rests Verana, a small, personal hotel, as unusual as it
is remote. In its seventh season, which runs from November through
June 5, the 8-room outpost never fails to enchant guests with its
unique spirit of tranquility and exhilaration afforded by its chic
yet rough-hewn design, dramatically juxtaposed by unadulterated nature
on all sides, 24/7.
LOCATION
Atop Yelapa located on Mexico’s southwest coast sometimes referred
to as the Costa Alegre, 30 miles south of Puerto Vallarta. Accessed
by air daily via Puerto Vallarta International Airport, then taxi to
Boca de Tomatlan beach where Verana’s boat transports guests
to Yelapa. After a short hike through the jungle (mules stand-in for
bellboys) the real adventure begins.
DESIGN
Verana has just 8 guesthouses that dot the 5-acre property, lush with
tropical plantings and fruit trees. All the guesthouses are unique
in concept and feel. The most bohemian ‘Palapa’ boasts
a traditional thatched roof, uneven rock floor, and no walls leaving
it wonderfully exposed to the jungle while the modern eye-popping ‘Studio’ is
replete with George Nelson lamps, tiled floors and a huge bank of steel
framed windows overlooking one of the largest bays in the world. As
Architectural Digest’s Kathryn Harris said, “The bungalows
are part of an ongoing play between inside and out, past and present,
privacy and community, nature and manmade.” Each house has its
own terrace with jungle and Pacific Ocean views and personal pathways
that follow the contours of the landscape and lead to the communal
areas of the hotel: restaurant, bar, pool, yoga room, library and spa.
Verana was conceived, designed and is solely owned by Heinz Legler
and Veronique Lievre, a former movie set builder and set decorator
respectively. Verana can safely lay claim to the adjective handmade. “Everything
had to be brought up hill either by hand or mule,” says Lievre
who tricked out the rooms with an eclectic mix of found objects, artisan-made
furniture, Mexican handicrafts, and simply lined modernist pieces and
used a color palette inspired from the surroundings. “I wanted
to create an environment that was harmonious with the natural setting,
yet also functional and comfortable,’ says Lievre. There’s
an unapologetic absence of traditional luxury hotel amenities such
as high thread count bed linen, oversized flat plasma TVs, radios or
24 hr room service. Instead a mule plays bellboy and you’re as
likely to see a flotilla of yellow butterflies fly over the pool as
be wakened to the sound of parrots or a braying donkey or fall asleep
to the accompaniment of courting frogs and cicadas. This is the real
privilege of being at Verana, the opportunity to observe and interact
with nature first hand. “Verana is really about the outside setting
with the option to go inside,” confirms Legler.
SPA
The indoor-outdoor spa at Verana is designed to maximize its jungle
setting. Like on the rest of the property, a carefully placed wall,
door or planting ensures privacy and yet there is a delightful frisson
because guests are essentially outdoors. It is carved into the rocks
overlooking the Bay of Banderas and the jungle, surrounded by towering
cacti and enhanced by the intoxicating smells of lemongrass and plumeria
that grow nearby. In the massage hut you can enjoy Thai, Hot stone,
and Swedish modalities. In the treatment room, which is again open
to nature, potions whipped up daily from fresh ingredients grown on
property such as avocado, coffee and papaya along with botanicals are
used for healing facials, body washes and scrubs. The sublime art of
Watsu massage (think Zen Shiatsu with some twirling while being cradled
in water) is practiced in a specially designed pool heated to the same
temperature as the body, the first if not the only one of its kind
in Mexico. Plein air Japanese style soaking tubs are usually enjoyed
under moonlight alone or with a partner.
CUISINE
Despite the remote location, Verana’s kitchen led by Yelapan
native, Chef Fabian, creates 3 sublime meals a day. Every other day
the Verana boat picks up supplies in Puerto Vallarta to help fashion
the menu which is ingredient driven, organic where possible, and Regional
Mexican in origin laced with international flavors and slickly finished
with modern health consciousness.
The day starts at 8:00 AM with a tray
of home made baked goods – sometimes
brioche or croissants, other times pastries or cookies - coffee and
tea in thermos flasks, delivered and left quietly outside the guesthouse
door, if there is one!
Full Breakfast is served on the Terrace Restaurant.
Arrays of fruit many of which are grown on property, cereals and
yogurts and egg dishes
are served at sturdy wood tables and chairs overlooking the bay.
Lunch
is served at the Pool Restaurant. Light and healthy dishes such as
green papaya salad with rice noodles and ginger soy sauce, followed
by coconut sweet sticky rice with fresh mango.
Poolside snacks including
coconut prawn brochette, tortilla wraps and ceviche del dia are on
hand most of the day.
Dinner is by candlelight occasionally with entertainment – fire
eaters, musicians from the village – at the Terrace Restaurant.
Tuna caught that day served with avocado, coconut prawns served in
curry with ginger mash. Perhaps Panacotta with mint and mango coulis.
The Bar serves up sunsets, signature cocktails and a well-considered
and edited wine list featuring international and local producers
and a good selection of top shelf tequila from the region.
ACTIVITIES
You can be active,
You can be healthy,
You can relax
And you can relax even more.
If reflecting in the spring water pool
with 180 degree views of the mountains and ocean, or lazing in a hammock
reading a book from the
library while waiting for an afternoon massage isn’t your idea
of a perfect day, Verana offers an extensive array of activities and
excursions, including ocean kayaking, fishing, whale and bird watching,
trekking jungle trails and to waterfalls and snorkeling. Yoga is offered
daily and private sessions may also be scheduled. Built on the hillside
near the pool, the floor of the yoga palapa extends beyond the incline
of the hill to provide a sense of floating as you move through asanas
and kriyas. HONEYMOONS & WEDDINGS
Verana’s remote and romantic setting has always drawn brides
and grooms for their ceremony or just honeymoon. Special packages and
a gift registry are available. While any of the guesthouses are perfect,
the most recent addition, The Tea House is most popular. It’s
the largest and has its own plunge pool.
BEEN-SEEN
Been-Seen.com is
an innovative interactive website with a wealth of information and
possibility that reflects Verana’s adventurous
and relaxed spirit. It is a virtual community and meeting point for
Verana’s
crew, past and prospective guests. It contains news, photographs, articles
about design and travel. You can communicate exchange ideas and pictures
and it’s a terrific source of unbiased opinions from past guests.
OWNERS
Heinz Legler and Veronique Lievre are the sole owners and the designers
of Verana. Heinz is a German native from Stuttgart, while Veronique
hails from Paris, France. Heinz was a hipster photographer in 60s Berlin
and a film construction company owner in 80s Los Angeles. The last
set he built, the Eye of the Storm with Dennis Hopper, remains in the
desert as a permanent movie location called Club Ed, which has been
rented by everyone from film director, Ridley Scott to music icons,
U2. Veronique spent her childhood rifling through flea markets with
her father in Paris and translated that passion for objects, furniture
and design into a career as a prop stylist/set decorator and artist.
When the couple joined forces to create Verana, their relationship
blossomed. They were married at Verana in 2000. “We weren’t
sure if our guests would come. It became sort of test run for the hotel,”
says Lievre.
BACKSTORY
When Heinz Legler and Veronique Lievre discovered the exotic land with
its jaw-dropping views, pitching a tent for a year they started to
clear enough jungle to commence construction for what was intended
to be their personal hideaway. At this time there was no electricity
in Yelapa, and their water came from a nearby well. They introduced
solar power and all extra materials were imported via boat from Puerto
Vallarta and were either hauled by hand of via mule up the steep hill.
The first few buildings, now known as the Palapa, the Terrace Restaurant,
and the Stone House, were all the result of their evolving response
to the site, and its prevailing conditions. When these were complete,
the couple invented the name Verana, after Veronique and determined
it would be an intimate hotel.
RATES
For two people (including three daily meals, taxes and boat transportation)
range from $380-$610 per night. There is a five night minimum stay,
unless availability permits otherwise.
Casa Sin Tiempo, is a two-room
guesthouse in Puerto Vallarta available for guests before or after
a visit to Verana, or for a trip just to
Puerto Vallarta. Verana’s shuttle service to and from Boca de
Tomatlan is available with a reservation. Rates per room are $150/night
and include continental breakfast.
Verana is also available
for group and commercial photo shoots. For reservations or information,
please
call (800) 530-7176, or email, or visit our website at: www.verana.com
CONCLUSION
“Verana is an invitation to recall how simple and beautiful life can
be,” says Legler of his dream home expanded to dream hotel,
open to anyone willing to venture there. If hotels are about an escape
from
the mundane, Verana scores off the charts.
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