Rio de Janeiro’s most historic hotel is also its most fabulous. Check into the Copacabana Palace for old world glamour, impeccable hospitality, a buzzy pool scene and Carioca conviviality.
Location 9/10
Situated oceanfront in the middle of the famed Copacabana Beach, the Copacabana Palace is the grand dame presiding over it all. Sugarloaf Mountain’s dramatic peaks rise on the northwestern horizon while Corcovado, home to Christ the Redeemer, looms behind and Ipanema Beach extends around a bend to the east.
Design 9/10
The hotel opened in the summer of 1923 to mark the centennial of Brazil’s independence. It was designed by French architect Joseph Gire in a style typical of the grand Art Deco hotels of the French Riviera. Through the years, everyone from Brigitte Bardot to Beyonce have graced the hallowed halls, whose history you can explore in the hotel’s cheeky “Hall of Fame” exhibit.
Today, Copacabana Palace cuts a regal silhouette in white stone with Beaux-Arts decorative flourishes, arcade windows, Juliet balconies, and wrought iron and stone balustrades. Inside, the décor is traditional and opulent with gleaming marble floors, plush carpeting, sparkling chandeliers and original murals depicting scenes of old Rio. It all amounts to a warm, cosseting effect that’s easy to get used to.
Amenities & Hospitality 9/10
Twenty-twenty-four was apparently the year that I checked into my first and then second Belmond hotel. (Caruso on the Amalfi Coast was my first this summer.) I must say, it makes for a really lovely way to travel. These hotels are the pinnacle of luxury with unparalleled warm, anticipatory hospitality. At Copacabana, everyone from the front desk to restaurant hosts, waitstaff and pool attendants seemed sincerely invested in making it a memorable stay.
The enormous pool is the heart of the hotel and the hub of social activities, whether that’s sipping Champagne on a lounge chair beneath the fashionable umbrellas, dancing with the roving samba group or heading out to eat at one of the restaurants encircling it. There’s also rooftop tennis courts and a spa where I had a wonderful massage before my redeye departure.
Rooms 9/10
We checked into an oceanfront one-bedroom suite with windows overlooking the beach and ridiculously high ceilings. With dark wood furnishings, light upholstery and standard lamp shades, the décor was in a transitional style. The spacious sitting room had a couch, chair and desk, plus a complimentary bottle of Champagne, while the bedroom had an extremely comfortable king-sized bed with crisp white linens and a white leather tufted headboard. A framed painting of Copacabana Beach before it was developed hung above the bed.
The beige marble bathroom was outfitted with double vanities, a rainfall shower and bathtub with plush robes and linens and local Granado Carioca bath products. Slippers come in the form of limited edition Copacabana Palace Havaianas flip-flops that are yours to take home.
The overall feeling is luxurious residential. Again, it’s easy to grow accustomed to the plush digs.
Food & Beverage 8/10
The hotel is home to a Cipriani, the poolside and oceanfront Pérgula and the Asian fusion restaurant MEE. The dining highlight of my stay was the Saturday feijoada feast at Pérgula, a traditional Brazilian Portuguese celebration centered around a black bean stew served with beef, pork, rice and sautéed kale. At Copacabana Palace, this meant the most fabulous lunch buffet I have ever seen in my life with all manner of salads, pasteles, bread, tropical fruit, cheeses, fried chicken etc. etc. and all-you-can-drink caipirinhas with a samba group keeping things festive. The tasting menu dinner at MEE, which has a Michelin star, was perfectly fine if a little underwhelming.
“I spent what seemed to many people I knew an eccentric amount of time in Honolulu, the particular aspect of which lent me the illusion that I could any minute order from room service a revisionist theory of my own history, garnished with a vanda orchid.”
Joan Didion, “In the Islands,” 1970
Value 9/10
Current rates from about $623. Book.
The Bottom Line
If you’re going to Rio and you can swing it, you might as well check into the Copa for the perfect immersion into Carioca culture in the lap of luxury.
Contact
Avenida Atlântica 1702, Rio de Janeiro; 800 237 1236; Belmond.com
