Placing a ten-storey steel-and-glass grid directly on Vieira Souto, the avenue that runs the length of Ipanema beach, was always going to be a statement about what Brazilian luxury could look like in the twenty-first century. When Fasano Rio de Janeiro opened in 2009, the building — designed by Isay Weinfeld, São Paulo's most distinctive architect of his generation — made that argument with unusual restraint. The facade's dark steel exoskeleton and full-width glass-balustrade terraces carry the feeling of a residential tower that simply decided to become a hotel, each of its 91 rooms oriented toward the Atlantic with the kind of deliberateness that lesser properties achieve only in their top-floor suites. Weinfeld handled the interiors as well, and the rooms bear his characteristic vocabulary: wide-plank Brazilian hardwood floors, tufted tan leather armchairs that sit in the lineage of mid-century São Paulo modernism, rosewood bed frames and solid timber stump stools placed against slub-linen sofas. The palette stays close to tobacco, ochre, and warm white — colors that deepen under the copper Atlantic light visible through every balcony door. On the roof, a teak-decked infinity pool dissolves toward the Cagarras Islands at the horizon, while the adjacent bar wraps a polished-steel counter in warmth with slatted hardwood ceilings and patinated concrete walls. The whole building functions as a sustained argument that Carioca glamour and architectural seriousness are not competing ambitions.

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Located on Avenida Vieira Souto, in the heart of Ipanema beach, the long awaited hotel Fasano Rio de Janeiro combines the sophistication of Rio’s most coveted address with modernity and efficiency in design and service. Envisioned by Philippe Starck, everything has been thought out to reverberate the glorious Bossa Nova era, when Ipanema was blossoming into the most charming neighborhood of Rio. The hotel caters to both leisure and business travelers and offers the latest technology in its accommodations and meeting rooms. Guests can experience Fasano's gastronomic legacy at the elegant Fasano al mare restaurant and enjoy signature cocktails and light meals at the ‘scenery’ Baretto-Londra. The breathtaking view from the rooftop swimming pool overlooks the beach and constitutes an attraction in and of itself.