Copacabana Palace

Belmond Copacabana Palace
Copacabana Palace Hotel.
Location within Copacabana (Rio de Janeiro)
General information
Classification
Location	Copacabana, Rio de Janeiro, Brazil
Coordinates	22°58′3″S 43°10′44″W / 22.96750°S 43.17889°W / -22.96750; -43.17889Coordinates: 22°58′3″S 43°10′44″W / 22.96750°S 43.17889°W / -22.96750; -43.17889
Opening	September 14, 1923; 94 years ago (1923-09-14)
Owner	Belmond Hotels
Design and construction
Architect	Joseph Gire
Other information
Number of rooms	226

The Belmond Copacabana Palace is a luxury hotel located on Copacabana Beach in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil. It faces the coast, and consists of an 8-story main building and a 14-story annex. The Art Deco hotel was designed by French architect Joseph Gire. It has 216 rooms (148 in the main building and 78 in the annex), a semi-olympic swimming pool, a swimming pool for VIP guests located at the penthouse, a tennis court, fitness center, a 3-story spa, three bars all of them inside the respective restaurants, one with Italian food, one with pan-Asiatic and other with international food. It was inaugurated on August 13, 1923. It was featured in the 1933 film Flying Down to Rio.

After Brasília became the Brazilian capital in 1960, the hotel underwent a period of slow decline and was surpassed by the more modern hotels which were built in the 1970s. There were plans to demolish the hotel in 1985, but they were scrapped afterwards. The hotel was refurbished sometime after 1989 when the Orient-Express Hotels bought it.

In March 2014 Orient-Express Hotels Ltd. renamed itself Belmond Hotels, and the hotel was renamed Belmond Copacabana Palace.

Many famous people have been guests at the Copacabana Palace, including Madonna, Michael Jackson, Justin Bieber, Robbie Williams, Walt Disney, Rolling Stones, Elizabeth Taylor, Elton John, Carmen Miranda, Marilyn Monroe, Rita Hayworth, Gina Lollobrigida, Brigitte Bardot, Diana, Princess of Wales, Harald V of Norway, Queen Sonja of Norway, Luciano Pavarotti among others.