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 Travel & Outdoors | January 2007 
Verana: Fire for the Imagination; Indulgence for the Body; Medicine for the Soul
 etravelblackboard.com
Carved out of a swath 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, Verana is 30 miles south of Puerto Vallarta. Guests arrive 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 simple 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. The spa 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 8:00AM 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, prepared by chef Elliot, 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, plus 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.
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 or by 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. Rate is $150/night per room, including continental breakfast. Verana is also available for group and commercial photo shoots. For reservations or information, please call (800) 530-7176, or email ana@verana.com or visit our website at: http://www.verana.com.
"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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