Marcelo Lima and Antonio Mazzafera, the former marketing director of London’s Maybourne hotels, could not have found a more ideal location for the debut of their first property under the Fera brand.
Built in 1934 in the style of New York’s Flatiron, the Palace Hotel – an impressive art deco landmark in Salvador da Bahia’s Pelourinho quarter – was for a brief shining moment, the hotel of choice for the likes of Carmen Miranda, Orson Welles and Pablo Neruda. By the time Lima and Mazzafera bought the property in 2011, it had already been shuttered for a decade.
Under the precise scalpel of the Danish architect Adam Kurdahl, the Fera Palace has reopened with 81 spacious rooms. The interiors, also by Kurdahl, retain the original windows, while the rooms and public spaces are feature aged brushed steel fixtures, solid Chesterfields, and mirrored drinks cabinets.
A rooftop spa and 25m infinity pool offer a languid prelude to chef Wellington Santos’s Bahia-influenced menu – think shredded dried beef paired with gouda, grilled tenderloin paired with onion and rösti sauce, and a cheesecake served with the syrup of the local jaboticaba fruit.
Up next for the Fera group is the Fera Baixo Augusta, which is due to open in São Paulo next year.
INFORMATION
ADDRESS
Rua Chile 20
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