Australian Gourmet Traveller - (08)August 2020 (1)

Above,from

left:TheRitz,

Paris;TheGrand

LobbyatRaffles,

Singapore.

Opposite,from

left:ThePlaza,

NewYork;the

viewfromone

ofthesuites

atBelmond

Copacabana

Palace,Riode

Janeiro.

TheRitz,Paris

This18thcenturytownhousehotel

wasfoundedin 1898bytheSwiss

hotelierCésarRitz,oneofthefirst

hotelsin Europetoofferanensuite

bathroom,electricityanda telephone

in eachroom.Buttheseamenities

weren’twhatdrewpoliticians,royals,

writers,filmstarsandmusiciansto

TheRitz;thebigdrawwastheother

guests.This159-roomiconhasthe

starriestheritageofthemall.

CouturierCocoChanelcalledthe

hotelhomefor 34 years,untilher

death.WriterMarcelProustatedinner

herealmosteverynight.Andthe

cocktailbarstillbearsthenameof

legendaryimbiberandwriterErnest

Hemingway.TheRitzalsoplays

a starringrolein manyLostGeneration

worksoffiction,suchasF. Scott

Fitzgerald’sTenderIs TheNight,

Hemingway’sTheSunAlsoRises

and Noel Coward’s playSemi-Monde.

NotalloftheRitz’shistoryhas

beenglitzy;in 1940theNazistookover

severalfloorswhentheyoccupied

Paris,generouslygivingthemselves

a 90percentdiscount.In1997,it was

outthebackdooroftheRitzthat

Diana,PrincessofWales,andDodi

Al-Fayed(sonoftheowner,Mohamed)

fled,attemptingtoavoidthepaparazzi,

thenightoftheiruntimelydeaths.

Twentiethcenturyhistorywould

lookverydifferent without the Ritz.

ritzparis.com

BelmondCopacabana Palace,

RiodeJaneiro

Withitsneoclassicalweddingcake

facade,this 1923 hotelis themost

iconicbuildingonRio’smosticonic

beach,Copacabana.Designedby

theFrencharchitectJosephGire

expresslytorivaltheEuropeanand

NorthAmericangrandedamehotels,

it immediately set a new standard

forSouthAmericanluxuryhospitality.

Butamongthiscadreofgrandedame

hotels,theCopais theonethatlets

herhairdown,thatrefusestostand

onceremony,andhasnotimefor

pretensionorostentatiousformality.

Oneyearafteropening,in 1924,

it hostedRio’sinauguralCarnivalBall,

a traditionit hasmaintainedevery

year,drawingquitethepartycrowd,

includingOrsonWelles,Ginger

Rogers,MaryPickford,JoanFontaine,

LanaTurner,RitaHayworth,Brigitte

Bardot,ZsaZsaGabor,KimNovak,

KirkDouglasand,morerecently,

GerardButlerandChristian

Louboutin.Rockroyaltyincludingthe

RollingStonesandQueenfamously

stayedhereforperformancesthat

wentdownin rockhistory,giving

interviewsontheroof. Fornearly

a century,theCopacabanaPalace

hasbeensynonymouswith

hedonism,highsocietyand

internationaljetsetters.Yetstaff

extendpreciselythesamewelcome

toa returningrocklegendastheywill

to an octogenarian couple that visit

Grande Dames around the world

112 GOURMET TRAVELLER

PHOTOGRAPHY CARRIE SOLOMON (THE RITZ) & RALF TOOTEN (RAFFLES).