Rio’s party palace
IN THE latest in our series on the world’s hippest hotels and the stars who frequent them, SARAH TURNER checks out the Belmond Copacabana Palace in the Olympic city of Rio.
STAR QUALITY: Chris Martin, Sir Mick Jagger, Princess Diana, Frank Sinatra, Ella Fitzgerald, Marlene Dietrich, Brigitte Bardot.
VITAL STATISTICS: Built in 1923, this hotel, with its wedding-cake facade, reigns serenely over South America’s most iconic beach. These days, there are 241 rooms, including 74 in the newer Tower Suite, all liberally coated in marble. Most prized, however, are those on the sixth floor. An enclave of seven suites, tended at all times by a butler, this is where heads of states and rock stars can be found.
A private swimming pool is part of the privilege of staying on this floor (and if trees suddenly appear to provide cover on its terrace, it means major celebrities are in town).
Rio is a party city, and the Copacabana Palace is its most famous backdrop. On the first floor there are a series of ten interconnecting ballrooms where up to 1,000 people can gather.
Most famous is the Golden Room – performers here over the years have included Ella Fitzgerald and Marlene Dietrich.
Of the three restaurants, the hushed Cipriani serves glorious Italian food, while Mee looks towards Asia, and Pergula, the most relaxed, offers a Brazilian centric menu with tables by the hotel’s main swimming pool (Orson Welles once threw the contents of his suite into the water). Towards the back of the hotel, a quiet bar offers respite, along with a spa split over three levels.
LOCATION REPORT: Copacabana Beach is the Trafalgar Square of Rio, where the city comes together for celebrations. Ipanema, along the coast, may be hipper now, but Copacabana is Rio’s melting pot.
KEY ATTRACTION: The Copa’s fame was assured when Fred Astaire and Ginger Rogers referenced it in Flying Down To Rio, their first film together. It’s an oasis of calm in the beautiful chaos that is Brazil’s liveliest city, where dowagers can meet and politicians can plot, while a stream of wellheeled tourists check in. Above all, it’s a hotel that manages to blend past glories with a zest for life.
IN THE NEWS: Notoriously wellbehaved Coldplay stayed on the sixth floor in April. During the Olympics, the beach volleyball competition was held close to the hotel, while the cycling road race finished nearby.
GOOD ENOUGH FOR THE REST OF US? Rooms start at £267 on a bed-andbreakfast basis – visit belmond. com or call 0845 0772 222.
GETTING THERE: Flights with British Airways to Rio start at £820 return (ba.com).