The facade of the Copacabana Palace, August 4, 2023, in Rio de Janeiro (AFP / MAURO PIMENTEL)
With its immaculate facade that shines in the sun, the Copacabana Palace, Rio de Janeiro’s iconic century-old hotel, continues to sit proudly facing the ocean.
On August 13, 1923, the French star Mistinguett caused a sensation at the inauguration of this symbol of luxury and glamor in Brazil.
Since then, dozens of planetary stars, heads of state or crowned heads have walked the sumptuous lounges, the magical suites or the famous balcony with a breathtaking view of the Copacabana beach, world famous today.
“The Copacabana Palace is more than a hotel, it’s an institution,” general manager Ulisses Marreiros told AFP.
Joséphine Baker, Bob Marley, Freddie Mercury, Madonna, Walt Disney, Brigitte Bardot, Robert De Niro, Nelson Mandela, Queen Elisabeth II: their faces are displayed on a gallery of portraits redesigned especially for the centenary, in a corridor overlooking a large living room.
Football legend Pelé’s signature on the Copacabana Palace guestbook. Photo taken on August 4, 2023 (AFP/MAURO PIMENTEL)
The guestbook is a real relic, carefully kept in a briefcase. You have to use white gloves to leaf through the pages full of illustrious signatures, such as that of “King” Pelé, who drew a ball entering a football goal.
It was opened especially for AFP in one of the most prestigious rooms, a suite of more than 100 m2 on the sixth floor where there is a view of the sea, including from the bathtub.
– False appendicitis –
The gallery of portraits of celebrities who attended the Copacabana Palace, August 4, 2023, in Rio de Janeiro (AFP / MAURO PIMENTEL)
Designed by the French architect Joseph Gire, the Copacabana Palace is inspired by emblematic hotels built at the beginning of the last century on the French Riviera, such as the Negresco, in Nice, or the Carlton, in Cannes.
At the time, Copacabana Beach was virtually deserted, while tall buildings line the boardwalk today.
The inauguration was supposed to take place in 1922, the centenary of Brazilian independence, but numerous technical constraints delayed the work for a year.
Not enough to dampen the enthusiasm of Octavio Guinle, its founder, whose family remained at the head of the hotel for more than sixty years, bought in 1989 by the Orient-Express group, before passing under the bosom of LVMH in 2018.
This entrepreneur from Brazilian high society has made the Copacabana Palace a must by attracting artists such as Edith Piaf, Maurice Chevalier, Ella Fitzgerald and Frank Sinatra to sing in his mythical Golden Room.
While the capital of Brazil was still in Rio (before being transferred to Brasilia in 1960), the hotel was also frequented by the cream of local politics. Like President Washington Luis, who in 1928 was shot by his mistress in a room at the establishment.
Injured, he had to be evacuated discreetly to a hospital. The press service of the presidency said later that he had suffered an attack of appendicitis.
– Local flavors –
Tragedy was once again narrowly avoided when Orson Welles threw a typewriter out of a window that overlooked the swimming pool on a day when inspiration failed.
It was in this same pool that Janis Joplin swam in her simplest device in 1970, which earned her expulsion from the Copacabana Palace.
View of the swimming pool of the Copacabana Palace, August 4, 2023, in Rio de Janeiro (AFP / MAURO PIMENTEL)
“It’s a place of political and artistic meetings, which has welcomed celebrities from all over the world, but with a very Brazilian charm and glamor,” historian Thiago Gomide told AFP.
Prince Albert II of Monaco fell under this spell. “Every time he comes here, he gives me a warm hug,” said Antonio Francisco dos Santos, a Copacabana Palace employee for 28 years.
“He likes to swim early and then enjoy tropical fruits, especially mango or acai, on his favorite table, by the pool, which I reserve for him as soon as I see him arrive”, testifies this assistant to the manager the Pérgula restaurant, where a hearty breakfast is served, with local flavors such as tapioca, a thin cassava starch pancake.
The swimming pool has just been revamped, with pale green parasols and deckchairs covered with matching cushions, with tropical motifs.
The facade has also been repainted, to regain a shade of pearl white, as it was a hundred years ago.
“We wanted to get as close as possible to the appearance of 1923, while using cutting-edge technologies for an illumination system that enhances the beauty of the building at night”, explains Ulisses Marreiros, who gives himself as credo to “honor the past while inspiring the future”.
© 2023 AFP
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