Having grown up in Sweden and the Canary Islands, Alex Vik’s first time in the U.S. was during college at Harvard. “I saw the movie Love Story, and Harvard looked like a good place to go,” he says. “I went looking for [the film’s lead] Ali MacGraw, and I found her in art, design, and my wife. Carrie was a lookalike beauty.” Carrie, for her part, went to Tufts, also in Boston, where the two met. After decades together, Carrie points to those early years as formative to their relationship.
While he studied economics to become an investment banker, she got her degree in sociology and entered the corporate world at General Electric. Living and working in New York in the 1970s and ’80s, the couple cultivated an interest in design, visiting art galleries and furniture auctions in their spare time. “Had we known what we know now [about art], we would have done things differently,” Alex laughs. Despite being novices to the art world, it instilled in the couple a love of craft that continues to shape their worldview and the philosophy behind Vik Retreats, the private retreat company they founded in 2004 with South American hospitality veteran Maximiliano Broquen.
Architect Smiljan Radic’s design of the winery at Vik in San Vicente, Chile features walkways that cut through the plaza, allowing visitors to travel through the water-filled landscape
It was in the early aughts that Alex and Carrie fell in love with Uruguay (Alex’s mother was Uruguayan, but he had never been and he wanted to introduce his first child to his own grandmother, who still lived there). They owned a beach house there when they went looking for a ranch to embody the idyllic setting they had come to admire. They found 4,000 acres on a lagoon off the ocean that is now Estancia Vik in José Ignacio on Uruguay’s southern coast. “We had so many ideas about art, architecture, design, and nature,” Alex explains. “We decided to make it much bigger and share it with the world.” Built in a Spanish colonial style from Uruguayan architect Marcelo Daglio, the design pays homage to the local vernacular with tin rust-colored roofs and white walls and features work exclusively by Uruguayan artists.
Soon after, Bahia Vik (another Daglio partnership) and Playa Vik (a collaboration with renowned Uruguayan architect Carlos Ott, it features a central sculptural building that cantilevers at various degrees) joined the roster. Now with six hotels, their ambitions have evolved. Consider Vik Chile, helmed by Daglio and architect Smiljan Radić, who handled the winery. Set on 11,000 acres of land, the hotel boasts an undulating titanium roof that references the surrounding mountains, while its glass-clad exterior offers 360-degree views of the landscape. Inside, the Viks collaborated with 40 artists to bring their vision to life. “It was extremely inspirational to work with all these artists,” says Carrie. “These projects feed our passion.”
The design of beachfront Madera bungalow at Bahia Vik in José Ignacio, Uruguay blends with the landscape
Taking that idea one step further, the 89-key Galleria Vik Milano Italy, the first Vik property outside of South America, features works from more than 100 artists, including a piece on the fifth floor from various artists done in nail polish and hairspray, which can only be seen under a black light that turns on as guests approach the area.
Beyond art, the common thread that unites each property is their holistic approach. “We’re pushing the envelope,” Carrie points out. “When you stay in a Vik Retreat, it’s about the human experience, but it’s also the physical experience of being there and exploring.”
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