Pueblo Edén, Uruguay

Photo: MAPA

When you travel, do you like being ahead of the crowd? Of course. Do you prefer to stay in new hotels that everyone will be talking about soon? Definitely. Are you still trying to figure out where you’re going this fall? Good. A new design hotel is about to open in Uruguay.

The Sacromonte Landscape Hotel is unique and stunning. Thirteen freestanding cabins are scattered around the hotel’s 250 acres. The modern front of each one looks like a mirror. Their smoked-glass facades reflect, therefore blending in, with their surroundings. The backs are more traditional. Stacked logs make them look like log cabins. The wood extends into terraces with small circular pools. The roof is alive with green plants. While the view includes the winery, grassy meadows, rushing streams, and calm reservoirs.

The interior of the cabins is just as spectacular. A wide wall of windows in the bedrooms is only interrupted by supporting steel frames. They match the dark stone floors. There are a bathroom and a small kitchen behind oak-paneled walls. Fireplaces and reading nooks complete the cozy vibe. Plus they’re eco-friendly. The heat is solar. The water is spring. Even the waste water is recycled.

Photo: MAPA

These eco-friendly policies aren’t surprising given the way the hotel was constructed. MAPA, a design studio based in Brazil and Uruguay, assembled the prefabricated cabins in Montevideo before transporting them 125 miles north to Pueblo Edén. Except for picking the perfect spots and adding the terraces, little needed to be done to the exterior of the cabins. The immediate focus became making them comfortable inside.

Once the cabins were in place, the focus turned to the rest of the property. Tannat, Merlot, and Cabernet Sauvignon grapes were already planted in the vineyard. But places were needed to taste the wine. The reception building now contains a wine store. Wine tastings will be held on a hilltop terrace. While a farm-to-table restaurant will pair the wines with barbecued meat, including local wild boar.

Though it has nothing to do with wine, MAPA added one more unique feature. The Sacromonte Chapel sits on the property’s highest point. Think of it as a sacred, not a religious, site. It’ll be easier to believe once you see the simple structure. A steel bridge acts as a base. Two wooden planes rise around it to form a peak. But they never actually touch. There’s room for one person, two people at the most, in this tiny, open-air chapel. Those who make the trek will find solitude and sweeping views of the Maldonado countryside. The best part is that no one knows about it—yet.

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