Fodor's Expert Review Villa Bahia

The most evocative place to stay in town, this boutique hotel combines beautiful design inspired by Salvador’s colorful history and a fabulous restaurant with a privileged location in the heart of the Pelourinho. Run by French hospitality group Voyageurs Du Monde, its 17 rooms (most featuring double-height French doors or private balconies) conjure up the magic of Salvador’s Golden Age, when Brazil’s first capital marked a pivotal point in the Portuguese empire’s trade route to the East. Each room is inspired by one of the former colonies, coupling antiques and original maps with locally sourced, reclaimed wooden furniture: bed down in Goa, and you’ll sleep in an antique maharajah’s litter. Long breakfasts served by ever-smiling staff are taken in a verdant interior courtyard, while the restaurant provides a haven for visitors to Salvador’s historic center, serving sophisticated Brazilian specialties such as palm heart spaghetti with prawns and grilled Pirarucu (Amazonian fresh-water fish) with beetroot carpaccio. Enjoy a perfectly balanced caipirinha in the shadow of the magnificent faded gold spires of the Igreja de São Francisco.