The hotel was built at the beginning of the 20s by Octavio Guinle - a well-known hotelier of the day - in response to a suggestion of the then president of Brazil, that Rio de Janeiro needed a truly world-class hotel on the beach. South America's most famous hotel - which became a driving force in the development of Copacabana - was designed by the French architect Joseph Gire, who was himself inspired by two of his country's best loved hotels, the Negresco in Nice and the Carlton in Cannes. A grand hotel, in the traditional sense, the Copacabana Palace has hosted kings, queens, presidents, politicians, celebrities and top Hollywood stars since its inauguration on 13 August 1923 and continues to do so.
Purchased by Orient-Express Hotels in September 1989, the Copacabana Palace has undergone an extensive refurbishment programme which was designed to retain and enhance the hotel's position as one of South America's premier hotels. The famous facade of the listed building, which acted as the backdrop to much of Flying Down to Rio, a film that saw the pairing of Fred Astaire and Ginger Rogers for the first time, has been restored and repainted in a style that enhances the hotel's elegant lines.
The hotel's inner terrace houses one of the city's largest and most attractive swimming pools and is overlooked by the Annex, which, with its 75 suites, first opened for business in 1948. The Annex is home to the Copacabana Palace's main restaurant and bar, the Cipriani, which on opening in March 1994 quickly established itself not only as one of Rio's truly outstanding restaurants but also one of its most attractive. The restaurant is inspired by its name-sake, the Hotel Cipriani, the Orient-Express' property in Venice.
For many, Rio de Janeiro would not be Rio without the Copacabana Palace.
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