view of golf club house
A few days following my arrival in the island, I was talking to my brother about the creation of this blog and he referred me to Bahía, a new project being developed in the northeastern coast of the island in Rio Grande. He mentioned that there was nothing else more tropical than Bahía Beach and that I had to include it in my blog right away. I was skeptical about the whole fuss regarding the “tropicalness” of the project, especially after looking at projects previously done by the development and design team.
view of pool area
To my surprise - the photos looked pretty good on the web – an incredible coastal setting with low rise “eco-friendly” architecture inspired in the plantation village style. After two failed attempts to see the mysterious and exclusive complex (only residents and visitors could enter, even to take a look), I finally went in - thanks to a relative who had purchased an apartment in one of the finished complexes.
The resort community is settled on 483 acres – a former sugar cane plantation. One of the developers’ strategies to make this project unique was to make it an “eco-resort” by building minimally and working with the existing landscape to accommodate only buildings that would be no taller than the existing plants in the area. Also, in an effort to bring back the original state of the land previous to the sugar cane plantation, the group is now incorporating local flora that is indigenous to the area of Rio Grande. This is making local fauna to return to the area.
Elevator core of apartment complex (left) and view of one of the villas' private terrace (right)
Their plantation style buildings are simple and done in style and with good finishings, but it lacks that tropical authenticity that I was expecting. But I am not sure if it is fair to ask more from a project done by mostly foreign commercial developers. Nonetheless, I found lots of outdoor spaces in common areas such as the Golf Club House, which has an indoor/outdoor restaurant and several seating spaces facing the palm tree-lined shoreline. This makes the project pleasant and takes advantage of the gorgeous tropical surrounding. Also, the pool area is filled with low palm trees and sunshade structures, making it fresh even during the hottest days of the summer.
shading structures at the beach (left) and plexiglass and wood roof at club house (right)
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