Ponta dos Ganchos is a simply fabulous tiny all inclusive member of the Relais and Chateau group located in Santa Caterina province in Southern Brazil, just across on the mainland from the Island of Florianopolis.
If you really want to get away from it all in pampered luxury with fabulous food, wonderful accommodations, delightful staff, in gorgeous surroundings then Ponta dos Ganchos is a must. There are just 25 individual luxurious bungalows spread in tiers on the hillside overlooking the sea. For the last two years we have spent a week ‘chilling out’ in one of their Emerald Deluxe villas replete with outdoor plunge pool, indoor whirlpool bath with panoramic windows across the sea, own sauna and wine cellar, along with all the other things that you would expect of a Five Star resort. The ‘rules’ of Ponta dos Ganchos are that anything goes anytime, anywhere. Breakfast is served from as early as you want it, to as late as you want it, and consists of an amazing seven course tasting menu that is different everyday. Lunch and dinner which both have menus featuring a lot of local fish and shellfish as well as a whole range of international dishes, start some time in the late morning, with lunch sliding over to dinner about 7 o’clock in the evening, and going through until nobody wants to eat or drink any more. That is often well into the early hours. Most of the activity takes place around the two level rustic beachfront restaurant and bar. However, there is a reasonably well equipped gym and an indoor swimming pool as well as a bar and games room with billiards and a private movie theatre at the top of the hilltop peninsula on which the resort is located. On site there is a small outdoor spa where highly accomplished therapists offer an extensive range of massages and treatments.
With just a maximum of 50 guests spread around the entire private peninsula resort you never feel crowded whether it be on the lagoon beach with constant and charming service or in the many hideaways replete with hammocks and lounging furniture dotted around the resort.
It is pricey, but if you really want to get away from it all and enjoy a truly cosseted lifestyle I cannot recommend Ponta dos Ganchos highly enough.