Under the vault
Main bedroom
A king bed set under the arch of the vault, with the window opening straight onto the garden and the sound of the surf. Ensuite bathroom with a stone basin.
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Casa U’undu · Ventanilla · Puerto Escondido, Oaxaca
A Kalach house,
A Kalach house,
on an empty beach.
Brick vaults open to the wind, two pools above the surf and a cook in the kitchen every day — twenty-five minutes from Puerto Escondido, on a stretch of Oaxacan coast with no neighbours in sight. The whole house, for up to eleven.
3
Bedrooms
11
Guests
2
Pools
Daily
Private Cook
Direct
Beach Access
The House
A house that ends where the beach begins.
Casa U’undu stands alone on the dune at Ventanilla, twenty-five minutes east of Puerto Escondido. There is no resort next door, no road noise, no neighbouring rooftop — only the garden, the long grey-gold beach and a Pacific that arrives loudly and without interruption.
Inside, the house is one continuous space under brick vaults: a kitchen and a long table, a living room beneath a great arched window, a bar with a ladder to the reading mezzanine, and a table-tennis table in the gallery that has settled more family arguments than it has started. Three bedrooms open off it. Two pools — a small one to slip into after lunch, a long one set above the surf — and a deck of loungers between them and the sea.
“U’undu means gratitude. The house was built around that idea.”
The owners
Three bedrooms, eleven guestsOne king, one room with two doubles and a sofa bed, one with four singles. 3.5 bathrooms, one of them open to the sky.
A cook, includedBreakfast, lunch and dinner cooked in the house each day. You pay only for the groceries.
From US$850 per nightThe whole house for up to 8 guests, taxes included; US$100 per additional guest to 11.
Marketed by Villa ExperienceOne advisor, Rocío, from first message to checkout — since 2006.
The Architecture
Built by Alberto Kalach to work without machines.
Casa U’undu was designed by Alberto Kalach and his studio, Taller de Arquitectura X (TAX) — one of the most recognised practices in Mexico, and the hand behind the Biblioteca Vasconcelos in Mexico City.
The vaults are the whole idea. Laid brick by brick and left unplastered, each one lifts the hot air off the rooms and lets it go through openings at the ridge, while the thickness of the shell holds the cool of the night well into the afternoon.
Which is why there is no air conditioning here, and why nobody misses it. Ceiling fans turn in every bedroom, the sea breeze crosses the house from the garden side to the beach side, and the rooms stay in moving shade all day. The water in the pipes is warmed by the sun rather than a boiler — it arrives at the temperature you actually want in this climate.
The palette is what the coast gave: fired brick, raw concrete, local hardwood, stone basins, a red-tiled kitchen, one bathroom in cobalt tile. Nothing shiny, nothing that fights the light.
Alberto Kalach · Taller de Arquitectura X
The Cook’s Table
Someone cooks here every day of your stay.
A cook is part of the house, not an extra you book. She is in the kitchen each morning, and what comes out of it is Oaxacan coast cooking — eggs and fruit and fresh lemonade at breakfast, ceviche or a green corn soup at lunch, mole and rice at a long table as the light goes.
You pay for the groceries and nothing for the cooking. Tell us before you arrive what your group eats — allergies, children, vegetarians, a birthday dinner — and it will be waiting. If you would rather shop yourselves, the kitchen is entirely yours.
Breakfast at eight, lunch when you come out of the water, dinner when the sun has gone.
How most days here go
A Day at Casa U’undu
Nothing scheduled, and the day still fills itself.
Morning
The surf is loudest at dawn. Coffee on the terrace before anyone else is up, an hour in the hammock, then the beach — which, most mornings, has nobody else on it.
Afternoon
Lunch under the vault, then the long pool and the loungers. The vaults keep the house in shade; the fans do the rest. Table tennis when someone insists.
Evening
Sunset off the deck — the Pacific faces west here, so it happens in front of you rather than behind. Dinner at the long table, and then the sky over an unlit coast.
Film
The house, in motion.
Filmed at Casa U’undu by the owners.
15 seconds, no commentary
The vaults from the garden path, sun through the palms, the pool above the surf, and the loungers in the sea grape at the end of the afternoon — shot by the owners on the property.
Everything you see is Casa U’undu. No stock footage, no other guests, no neighbours.
Check AvailabilityArrivalThe vaults rising out of the garden as you come up the path.
The hammockMorning sun through the coconut palms above the loungers.
Brick and skyKalach's brick vault against the Oaxacan sky.
PoolsideThe beachfront pool and the deck chairs, palms overhead.
Late afternoonSun loungers in the sea grape, the dune and the surf beyond.
The Bedrooms
Three rooms under the same brick sky.
Eleven beds in three bedrooms, split between the upper and lower levels, each with a full bathroom. Ceiling fans throughout; one shower is open to the sky.
3
Bedrooms
1 king · 2 doubles + sofa bed · 4 singles
11
Guests
Rate covers 8; US$100 per extra guest
3.5
Bathrooms
Stone basins, cobalt tile, one outdoor shower
The family room
Second bedroom
Two double beds side by side beneath the brickwork, plus a sofa bed — the room that absorbs a family or a group of friends without anyone drawing the short straw.
Four singles
Third bedroom
Four single beds ranged along the length of the vault, with its own bathroom. The children's room, the cousins' room, the surf crew's room.
Services
Included, and on request.
House staff are on site from 8:00 am to 5:00 pm.
A private cook
A cook is in the house each day — breakfast, lunch and dinner, cooked from what the coast and the local market give her. Groceries are billed separately.
Daily housekeeping
The house is cleaned every day, beds made, towels changed.
Concierge & a house assistant
Someone on site to arrange a tour, a table, a transfer or a repair, and a general assistant for everything else.
Starlink wifi
Genuinely fast internet on a stretch of coast where that is not a given — enough for video calls if you must.
Free parking on site
A garage on the property.
Arranged for you
Provisioning — Groceries, pharmacy runs and restocking during your stay, billed at cost plus a shopping fee.
Massage — In-house massage, booked in advance.
Transport — Airport transfers and a car with a driver for the day.
Whale & dolphin watching — Boat trips off Puerto Escondido, in season.
The bioluminescent lagoon — Night trips onto the lagoon when the water lights up.
Sport fishing — Half and full days out of the local beach launch.
Horseback riding — Along the beach at either end of the day.
Yoga — A teacher to the house, on the terrace or under the vault.
The Setting
Ventanilla, the quiet side of Puerto Escondido.
Puerto Escondido has become one of the most talked-about stretches of coast in Mexico — Zicatela’s surf, the fish restaurants on Playa Manzanillo, the sunset boats out of Puerto Angelito. Casa U’undu sits far enough east of all of it that you hear none of it, and close enough that you can be in the middle of it in under half an hour.
In front of the house: an open beach where the Colotepec river meets the sea, good for long walks and pelican-watching, with a strong Pacific shore break — swim in the pools, surf with a guide. Nearby, the lagoon lights up at night with bioluminescence, and humpbacks pass offshore in season.
| The beach | Direct access from the garden |
| Puerto Escondido International Airport (PXM) | about 25 minutes by car |
| Puerto Escondido & Zicatela beach | about 25 minutes by car |
| La Barra de Colotepec lagoon | a few minutes away |
| Huatulco International Airport (HUX) | about 2 hours by car |
Photo Tour
Every corner of Casa U’undu.
ArrivalThe architecturePools and gardenTerraces and shadeLiving, playingThe tableBar and kitchenFrom the kitchenThe bedroomsBathroomsThe beach and the coast
Arrival 6 photos
The architecture 11 photos
Pools and garden 10 photos
Terraces and shade 5 photos
Living, playing 4 photos
The table 1 photos
Bar and kitchen 3 photos
From the kitchen 5 photos
The bedrooms 4 photos
Bathrooms 6 photos
The beach and the coast 12 photos
Reviews
What guests say when they get home.
Casa U’undu is a small house that takes few bookings a year, so the review count is modest and every one of them is real.
“Extraordinary hospitality and attention to detail — everything precisely as described, and the house itself is something else.”
Airbnb guest“The decoration and the architecture are the reason to come. We did not want to leave.”
Airbnb guest“Spotless, easy check-in, and a beach we had entirely to ourselves.”
Airbnb guestRatings shown as published on Google and Airbnb.
Good to Know
Questions, answered.
Yes. Casa U'undu is only ever let as a whole house. There are no other guests, and no shared areas.
No, and by design. Alberto Kalach shaped the house around its brick vaults, which pull warm air up and out and keep the rooms in shade and moving air all day. Every bedroom has a ceiling fan, and the Pacific breeze does the rest. Guests who have stayed through April and through August both report sleeping comfortably.
There are no water heaters. The pipes run in the sun, so the water arrives warm rather than hot — pleasant for a shower in this climate, and part of how the house treads lightly on a stretch of coast with no mains infrastructure.
Yes. A cook is part of the house, included in the nightly rate. You pay for the groceries; there is no charge for the cooking. Tell us in advance about allergies, children's tastes or a special dinner.
Eleven, across three bedrooms — one king, one room with two double beds and a sofa bed, and one with four single beds. The rate covers eight; each additional guest is US$100 per night.
Yes — families stay here often. Do note that the pools are not fenced and there are level changes and open edges throughout the house, so small children need an adult's eye on them, as they would at any architect-designed house on a beach.
Fly into Puerto Escondido (PXM) — direct from Mexico City, Oaxaca City and, seasonally, other hubs. The house is roughly 25 minutes from the airport, and we can have a driver meet your flight.
Three nights in low season, four in high season, and seven nights over Easter, Christmas and New Year.
Gratitude. The owners named the house for the feeling they wanted it to hold, and the architecture is built around that idea — open to the weather, made of earth-coloured brick and concrete, and turned towards the sea rather than away from it.
Rates
Whole-house rates, per night in US dollars.
Exclusive use of Casa U’undu for up to 8 guests, taxes included. Each additional guest is US$100 per night, to a maximum of 11.
| Season | Dates | Up to 8 guests | Each extra guest | 11 guests | Minimum |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| High season | November 1 – April 30 | US$1,200 | + US$100 | US$1,500 | 4 nights |
| Low season | May 1 – October 31 | US$850 | + US$100 | US$1,150 | 3 nights |
| Semana Santa | Easter week | US$1,500 | + US$100 | US$1,800 | 7 nights |
| Christmas & New Year | Christmas and New Year week | US$2,000 | + US$100 | US$2,300 | 7 nights |
Rates are per night in US dollars for exclusive use of the whole house, taxes included, for up to 8 guests. Each additional guest is US$100 per night, to a maximum of 11. Rates are provided by the owner and are subject to change until a reservation is confirmed.
Availability & Reservations
Check your dates, send your inquiry.
Inquire
One advisor, first message to checkout
Share your dates, party size and occasion. Rocío at Villa Experience confirms availability with the owner and comes back to you with a full quote — usually the same day.
Exclusive use of the whole house for up to 11 guests
A cook in the house every day, included in the rate
Airport transfers, tours and celebrations arranged in one place