9 magical stays in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil

A timeless icon on the world’s most famous waterfront, the Copacabana Palace drips classic luxury, managing to preserve the glitz and glamour of its heyday without ever creeping over into pretentious territory. Chef Ken Hom’s Asian-fusion restaurant, MEE, is excellent value for its Michelin star, while the building’s lovingly refurbished theatre, reopened in 2021 after a 27-year hiatus, whispers of a storied past and a bygone era when the biggest names in showbiz graced its illustrious stage and stalls. Fast forward to today and sustainability is king in this Palace: the hotel runs entirely on renewable energy.

Booking information: Rooms from £310pn, including breakfast; belmond.com

With 545 rooms piled up over 39 stories, the gargantuan Hilton Copacabana is your best bet of bagging a stay with unobstructed vistas of Rio’s peerless beachfront. In its former life as the Meridien, the hotel gained iconic status for its show-stopping fireworks display every New Year’s Eve, until it was decreed that a cascade of pyrotechnics licking their way down the tallest building on the waterfront probably went against some health and safety regulations. Nevertheless, with its faultless staff and gleaming marble surfaces set against warm, subtle tones, the Hilton still sparkles with a traditional take on affordable luxury in the most classic of Rio’s neighbourhoods.

Booking information: Rooms from £137pn, excluding breakfast; hiltoncopacabana.com

Perched on the hillside high above Rio’s bustling beaches is TuAkAzA, whose name – a play on the Portuguese for ‘your home’ – perfectly encapsulates the laid-back character of this small family-owned lodge. Originally designed in the 1960s by acclaimed Brazilian architect and master woodworker Zanine Caldas, the guesthouse has remained true to its roots with reclaimed wooden furnishings that adorn each room. Double suites even have their own private terraces, with a privileged view of Rio’s iconic jungle-clad mountains. Watch in awe as hang gliders float down from the top of Pedra Bonita – meaning ‘beautiful rock’ – or take to the skies yourself: the summit is less than an hour’s hike from your bedroom.

Booking information: Rooms from £153pn, including breakfast; tuakaza.com

Located on a sun-soaked curve of the Copacabana’s easy-going cousin, Ipanema Beach, is the Fasano, a sleek, modern hotel that contrasts with some of Rio’s older stays. White, minimalist rooms are a signature of its designer, Philippe Starck, but the darkwood floors and furniture in shades of mocha and tan are a nod to the Fasano collection’s Italian roots. Madonna, Beyonce and the Beckhams are among the celebs to have signed its guestbook, but that’s not to say the Fasano isn’t engaged in the local community: throughout the pandemic the Fasano do Bem project has been preparing and distributing cooked meals to those in vulnerable communities, with over 15,000 deliveries made to date.

Booking information: Rooms from £348pn, excluding breakfast; fasano.com.br/hoteis/fasano-rio-de-janeiro

Designer, visionary and environmental activist Oskar Metsavaht might be better known for his eco-friendly fashion label Osklen, but his winning debut in Rio’s crowded boutique hotel scene, the Janeiro, shows he has the Midas touch when it comes to hospitality, too. As one would expect, the Janeiro positions itself at the cutting-edge of sustainability. Solar power and LED lighting? Check. Fully biodegradable cassava-derived packaging? Naturally. The oceanfront suites are the pick of the rooms: natural light floods in and shimmers against the wooden wall panelling and bespoke furniture, all individually crafted from sustainable freijó wood, of course.

Booking information: Rooms from £232pn, including breakfast; janeirohotel.rio

This 19th-century mansion, situated on the site of a former coffee plantation, melds colonial charm with five-star service and amenities. Modern suites, stylishly appointed with original furniture from visionary Brazilian designers such as the celebrated Sergio Rodrigues, open onto a lush courtyard garden where pristinely preserved Atlantic forest drapes around a pool lounge. The hotel’s tropical chic restaurant, Térèze, offers a French twist on South American flavours, using ingredients from small local producers. In fact, “local” is an understatement: ingredients are sourced from an organic vegetable garden around the corner, which makes sunset suppers overlooking Rio’s Guanabara Bay taste all the sweeter.

Booking information: Rooms from £235pn, including breakfast; santateresahotelrio.com

The hip hilltop neighbourhood of Santa Teresa, with its cobbled streets and faded colonial mansions, beats to a more bohemian rhythm than that of Rio’s livelier districts. The Chez Georges villa certainly embraces the areas’s celebrated cultural cache. An artsy theme runs throughout this secluded retreat, which not only houses its own cinema room but also spares space for an art library and a (sound-proofed) recording studio frequented by some of the biggest names in Brazilian pop music – not something many hotels can boast. The caipirinhas served here are also up there with the city’s best. Enjoy them around the pool or bask in a hot tub soaking up exclusive views of Sugarloaf Mountain.

Booking information: Rooms from £135pn, including breakfast; georges.life/en/rio

La Suite by Dussol fizzes with genuine Carioca warmth, from its vibrant, colour-themed rooms replete with pop art to the genial but unobtrusive staff, many of whom have been hired from local low-income communities, part of a pioneering social initiative run by the hotel. Guests can enjoy a ‘floating breakfast’ in La Suite’s elegant infinity pool and drink in sweeping views across the Atlantic with their morning coffee. In the afternoon, join the throng of sun-kissed locals who make their way down to the sands of Praia da Joatinga, a local gem of a beach folded into the cliffside, which hums to the Marvellous City’s electric bossa nova energy.

Booking information: Rooms from £134pn, including breakfast; bydussol.com

Oscar Niemeyer, the grandfather of modernist architecture in Brazil and beyond, penned the design for the 33-storey Hotel Nacional in the 1960s, but financial difficulties in the 1990s meant that this colossal cylindrical tower stood abandoned and derelict for over twenty years. Reborn as a luxury offering under new ownership in 2016 on what would have been Niemeyer’s 109th birthday, the Nacional pays respect to its designer’s legacy with distinctive curved edges and abstract artworks, while it has also been retrofitted with the latest sustainable technologies to haul it into the twenty-first century.

Booking information: Rooms from £69; hotelnacionalriodejaneiro.com

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