GRAN MELIÁ NACIONAL RIO DE JANEIRO, BRAZIL

Rio de Janeiro’s historic Hotel Nacional has rebranded itself as the Gran Meliá Nacional Rio. Built by renowned modern architect Oscar Niemeyer in 1972, the cylindrically shaped rooms of the Nacional were a favourite haunt of Liza Minnelli and other celebrities in the seventies and eighties. The relaunch, in time for the Rio de Janeiro Carnival, which kicks off on February 24, makes the hotel the first Gran Meliá property in Brazil and sees the abandoned national heritage building come back to life after years of disuse. Many of the hotel’s celebrated original features such as painter Hector Bernabo’s sculpted entrance Painel de Carybé and gardens featuring 46 native Brazilian plants, designed by famed landscape architect Burle Marx, have been retained. The refurbished hotel now has 413 rooms, one presidential suite and 66 executive suites with floor-to-ceiling views of the elite São Conrado neighbourhood, a rooftop bar, two restaurants – the Mediterranean Sereia and a signature restaurant set to open in April – and the only Spa by Clarins in Latin America.

Classic rooms from Dh745 per night on granmelia@melia.com.br.