This Beautiful Hotel on the Coast of Brazil Has a Secret Food Lab

UXUA Casa Hotel & Spa is a boutique hotel located on the coast of Brazil. While the stunning location and convenient accommodation are reason enough to book a stay there, UXUA has even more to offer than what meets the eye. Alongside the on-site restaurant and relaxing pool, UXUA hosts a nutritional research laboratory called Vida Lab.

Despite its name, Vida Lab doesn't look anything like a laboratory, but more like a museum of sorts. There are jars of fermented products, essential oils are distilled there, there are large, stained glass windows, and the entire lab is surrounded by nature. There, researchers experiment with things like methods of repurposing food waste and the nutritional benefits various ingredients have to offer.

One would expect that they can taste things in a food laboratory, and Vida Lab doesn't disappoint. Guests are welcome to try the lab's kombucha (which is served for breakfast at the hotel each day), banana soft serve, roasted cacao grown in UXUA's gardens, carrot top pesto, and freshly baked bread. Just as UXUA's restaurant uses items from the lab, so does the spa. The hotel's treatments include essential oils, fruits, and nuts from Vida Lab.