BRAZILT R AV E LAn eternal beach party where
art, culture and beauty is
booming, Rio is once again
the world’s most glamorous
city, says Delilah KhomoPhotograph by MICHAEL ROBERTStatler.com Tatler July 2019 10 9Rio feels electric right
now, an irresistible
pool of hedonism
and culture under a
blue sky and forever glowing sun.
It’s a city where the hotel scene is
exploding. It’s where Lady Gabriella
Windsor is a regular, just like the von
Bismarcks, Dellals and Brandolini
d’Addas who hold court on the
rooftop of the Hotel Fasano in
Aproador. A city that at Carnival
time in February beckons an influx
of designers, supermodels and Society
girls escaping harsh Manhattan and
European winters, all jostling to
immerse themselves in the heady,
interactive energy of the place. A
city whose watchword is the life-
affirming e ai beleza (everything’s
beautiful). And a city that’s made
for beachside sun salutations, early-
morning meditations and moonlit
dinner parties.
Standing on the rooftop of the
new Janeiro Hotel, in the glamorous
Leblon district, bathed in warm air
and the almost alien, aquamarine
glow of the under-lit, minimalist
pool, you feel that vibe and see that
magic – it’s the perfect vantage point
to gaze over the Two Brothers
Mountain, with the iconic Christ
the Redeemer behind you. The
mood is eco and elegant, which is nosurprise, as the Janeiro is the latest
offering from Oskar Metsavaht,
hotelier, philanthropist, doctor,
artist and arguably Brazil’s most
prominent fashion designer.
Affectionately nicknamed the
‘Green Pope’ by Livia Firth – another
Rio fan – Metsavaht is dressed in
his usual surfer-chic uniform today,
as he shows off his vintage surf-
boards, the exclusive jasmine tea
created for the hotel by actor and
designer Waris Ahluwalia, and
trestle tables stacked with palo
santo-scented candles and Brazil-
heavy photography books, before
making his way to the hotel’s epic
ocean suites. A modernistic arrange-
ment of smoked glass, travertine
marble and Amazonian wood, the
rooms hang imperiously over the
golden mile of Leblon’s beaches and
have breathtaking, uninterrupted
views of the white-cliffed Ilhas
Cagarras just off shore.
Though the city’s just emerging
from the hangover of its recession, and
the political landscape is troubling,
you can feel a massive change in the
air with this year’s news that Rio’s
economy is getting a massive, oil-
based boost. Which is why all the
big hotel groups are looking to tap
back into the Rio market. Four
Seasons has bought properties, as
has the AccorHotels Group (of Raffles
and Fairmont fame), which has invested
£10 million converting a wonderful,
historic 1920s building in Largo do
Boticário, at the foothills of Mount
Corcovado. Meanwhile, Fairmont
has spent £50 million on its first South
American property in Copacabana,
which is back in the spotlight
thanks to LVMH’s takeover of the
Belmond group and its iconic
Copacabana Palace – a landmarkglam slamhotel whose fabulous Imperial
chandeliers drip in myth and magic,
and where everyone from Diana,
Princess of Wales, who famously
went for a midnight dip, to Janis
Joplin, who was politely asked to
leave after swimming in the nude,
turned the poolside into a cocktail
party. The hotel recently saw the
opening of a glorious Gucci shop in
its grounds. Copacabana also featured
massively in a huge photographic
series on the area by Martin Parr.
And the pool itself has become so
popular that another sleek black
infinity pool has been added on the
sixth floor just for guests in the
penthouse suite. It feels like an up-
scale members’ club up here, and an
invitation is almost the equivalent
of a Black Amex.
But Rio is far from being a place
where you can’t have a coffee with-
out flourishing a Black Amex. Of
course, if you like suppers and
cocktails back-to-back in night-
clubs overrun by parrot plants and
sprays of orchids, al fresco lunches
on the lawns of grand hillside
houses beneath the giant Christ
statue, his arms outstretched over
the city as if giving it a big hug,
then nowhere compares to it as a
backdrop for lavish parties. Take
the recent wedding of superstar
agent Guy Oseary and his model
wife Michelle Alves, for example,
who had guests like Elon Musk,
Madonna and recent Tatler cover
stars Helena Christensen and Dakota
Johnson flying in for the event. But
the heat is free and it’s guaranteed- even during the winter (between
May to October) the temperature
doesn’t drop below 28 degrees.
As well as being one eternal beach
party, Rio has also matured into a ]
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