Fairmont Rio de Janeiro Copacabana

If you’re reading this, you no doubt love boutique hotels, the more unusual the better. But let’s be honest. When you think of the classic Copacabana experience you’re likely imagining not a funky little art hotel but a luxurious tower, one from which you can take in the view of Sugarloaf Mountain, across the water, from an position that is both literally and figuratively above the commotion on the beach. This, as you may have begun to guess, is when you reach for a hotel like the Fairmont Rio de Janeiro Copacabana.

With a full 375 rooms and suites it’s certainly no mom-and-pop operation, but the point of a hotel like the Fairmont is the way it makes you feel like you are, if not the only guest, much more than just one of 750. And from within your room or your suite it’s not at all difficult to tune out the world beyond your door. The style is elegant in a timeless way, contemporary but eminently palatable. And the hotel’s offerings are thorough: not just a beach club but two swimming pools, a spa and fitness center, a café, a cocktail bar, and the seafood-focused Marine Restô.