With all eyes on Rio de Janeiro, Brazil in anticipation of the 2014 FIFA World Cup and 2016 Olympic Games, the Design Hotels community will have a touchdown spot within the heart of the city’s bohemian Santa Teresa neighborhood.
What began on a Caribbean beach as an experiment and study in community and collaboration, has evolved into a series of Design Hotels Projects. This is the third and newest project.
The project will run from January until December 2014. It will not only serve as a charming six-room hotel, but as host to a year-long series of events, from World Cup parties to intimate dinners. It is a neighborhood hub, where locals and tourist come together to celebrate, connect and create.
Built into the hillside of Rio de Janeiro’s Santa Teresa neighborhood, the hotel sits tucked amongst the flora and fauna of the urban tropical backdrop. Colonial revival meets Brazilian-chic in the mid-century house, now hosting Design Hotels third temporal hospitality experience. Six rooms and suites along with ample corners for idling, make up the property, giving the impression you’ve stepped through the ever-open doors of a local arbiter of style.
Attracted by the lush vegetation, monkeys and the occasional toucan cohabit with the creative minds of the hotel’s denizens. With an exterior by landscape architect Isabel Duprat and renowned Brazilian architect Marcio Kogan, who will also be designing the new hotel in 2015, the tiered property features a diverse range of indigenous plants dotted with edible herbs and fruits. Sweeping views of the stacked metropolis and sea envelop the horizon as the free-flowing spaces blur the borders of the outside and inside spaces. Split between four levels, the intimate home welcomes with bona fide Brazilian vitality.
Located on the property’s upper two floors are six bespoke rooms and suites. Herringbone wood floors are draped with rawhide rugs and gnarled burl tables are complemented by vivid tones of tangerine, olive and fuchsia. Three top-level rooms feature terraces, while all six uniquely ornated rooms offer stunning views of the unbeatable landscape and city. Crowning the property is the pool and bar terrace. Located a flight of stairs higher into the hillside, the sun-drenched oasis invites with teak wood sun loungers, as brilliant orange parasols pop with color.
Secretly tucked away on the lower level is the Salão de Charutos (cigar lounge), where VIPs are invited to make themselves completely at home. Brown leather button-back sofas and cowhide butterfly chairs flank the speakeasy space, further encouraging a familial atmosphere.
Rio’s infamous party spirit pervades with Carnival parties and the infectious, thundering rhythms of samba. As the biggest event of 2014 takes over the nation, Maria Santa Teresa is not only a soft spot to land at the epicenter of the World Cup party, it will also BE the party. Boisterous viewing parties will ignite football fever, bashes with freshly shucked oysters will delight the crowd and charity-driven concert events will exude all-around good vibes.
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