The 56 Best Hotels in Brazil

A former maternity hospital and a Jean Nouvel tower wrapped in 250 trees form the bones of this luxury hotel in Bela Vista, and the 450 site-specific works by Brazilian artists mean every corridor argues with the last. Philippe Starck handled the interiors, and the rooftop pool and jazz bar have become destinations on their own. It landed at number 24 on the World's 50 Best Hotels list.

A mirrored tower with a helipad jutting over Rua Oscar Freire, Emiliano is a boutique hotel that announces itself before you even walk in. Inside, the design is all confident Brazilian modernism, and the staff are the quietly expert kind who remember things. No pool, but there's a spa and a solid restaurant. The Jardins address puts you among the best shopping in the city, which suits the business-with-expense-account crowd just fine. A Forbes Four Star property.

The lobby's massive leather armchairs face the front door, which at Fasano means a steady procession of people who clearly want to be watched arriving. This is a boutique luxury hotel in Jardim Paulista, all English red brick and studied understatement, with a rooftop pool, a health club, and bathrooms scaled to impress. The celebrated Fasano restaurant and the jazz bar Baretto are both on the premises, which raises the floor considerably.

Leblon sits a little quieter and more polished than its famous neighbors Copacabana and Ipanema, and this boutique hotel rises above that stretch of sand with only five rooms per floor across 18 storeys, which keeps things from ever feeling like a tower block shuffle. The designer behind it built a career on Brazilian creative culture, and the restraint shows. Michelin's hotel guide has it listed among its selected properties.

Arthur Casas designed this boutique hotel in Faria Lima, and the upcycled, gallery-calm aesthetic means you could move from spa to room to restaurant without feeling like you've changed channels. A room with a terrace puts the city's sprawl at just the right distance, close enough to feel the pulse, far enough to sleep. The Michelin Guide awarded it one Key.

The rooftop pool hangs over Copacabana Beach with a view of Guanabara Bay that makes other hotels' views look like an afterthought. This luxury hotel was designed by Studio Arthur Casas and Oppenheim, and the Brazilian Modernism angle is more than a talking point: Sergio Rodrigues furniture, warm wood, and a spa with its own outdoor slice of sky. Book a sea-view room; the city side is fine, but fine isn't why you came to Copacabana.

Aeron chairs at the desks are a tell: Meliá Jardim Europa is a 278-room business hotel built for the finance crowd that runs Itaim Bibi, and it makes no pretense otherwise. Rooms have dark hardwood floors and city-facing balconies, the rooftop pool looks out over a genuinely dramatic skyline, and the tennis court offers private lessons from a former WTA professional, which is an oddly specific amenity that earns its mention.

The São Paulo outpost of the global members' club hotel sits inside the Cidade Matarazzo, a sprawling former hospital complex in the Jardins district. The bones are European, but the interiors lean hard into Brazilian modernism, with handblown lamps from local ceramicists and a strong collection of contemporary art on the walls. It's the kind of hotel where the lobby functions as its own social event.

A 23-story glass tower in the upscale Jardins district, steps from Avenida Paulista and everything that matters to São Paulo's shopping and business crowd. The lobby sets the tone: soaring glass ceiling, greenery, and chairs that look vaguely aerodynamic. Rooms run toward beige and dark wood rather than anything pointedly Brazilian. The Anantara Spa handles wellness on the fourth floor, and the 23rd-floor bar has the skyline views to justify a drink.

A family-run boutique hotel one block off Ipanema Beach, designed as a conscious nod to Brazilian modernism, with Sergio Rodrigues chairs and mid-century pieces scattered throughout. Standard rooms are compact but comfortable; the Duplex Suite edges into grander territory. When the beach is a ninety-second walk away, guests tend to forgive a hotel for being low-key rather than relentlessly entertaining, which suits this place just fine.

A Flemish tapestry anchors the main staircase, which tells you something about the level of theater this boutique hotel is going for. Tucked on a tree-lined street between Bela Vista and Jardins, just off Avenida Paulista, it runs to rich textures in the rooms, a pool and spa, and a habit of piping considered scents through the corridors, because apparently sight and touch weren't enough. Breakfast comes in Japanese or Western form, and there's a bistro and gastrobar for the rest of the day.

A glass-and-steel tower that cuts above the Jardins treeline and announces itself before you're anywhere near the lobby. This is a hotel running at São Paulo's preferred volume: bold color, Brazilian stone and wood, cinematic Modernist design, and a rooftop pool that never quite settles down. Rooms sit high enough for serious views. The morning coffee comes from a women-led collective, which is a better origin story than most hotels bother with.

The hotel sits where Ipanema quietly becomes Copacabana, at the base of a peninsula with some of Rio's most dramatic ocean views. Bernardes Arquitetura's redesign wraps the modernist concrete-and-glass structure in timber, softening it without losing the minimalism inside. Beach-side rooms frame the water in a way that makes packing up feel difficult. The Arp beach bar runs from dawn to dusk, and the neighborhood handles everything after that.

Cream, wood, and copper set the tone throughout this luxury hotel in the fashionable Lourdes neighborhood, where even the entry-level rooms run close to 300 square feet and come stocked with marble bathrooms and Havaianas. The Fasano group's signature Brazilian glamour is all here: the Gero restaurant, the Baretto cocktail bar with live music, and a rooftop pool and spa above it all.

A 19th-century mansion tucked into the Jardim Botânico neighborhood, at the foot of Corcovado, this boutique hotel is the quieter, leafier answer to Rio's beachfront towers. Suites open onto terraces overlooking the pool and garden, with Guanabara Bay in the distance. The garden itself was designed by the office of Roberto Burle Marx, which gives the whole property a pastoral weight that's hard to manufacture. The Michelin Guide has selected it.

The striped, vintage-inspired pool deck glowing beside a vertical garden at night is not what you'd expect from a corporate tower hotel in São Paulo's World Trade Center. The Sheraton WTC is exactly the polished business hotel it sounds like, with spacious rooms, marble bathrooms, and the kind of professional service that never surprises you. Regulars here are mostly on expense accounts, which keeps the whole operation humming reliably.

Floor-to-ceiling windows across 22 floors look out over the Marginal Pinheiros district, which tells you everything about who this hotel is built for: the laptop-and-lanyard crowd, and plenty of them. Brazilian oak, marble, and local photography keep the rooms from going anonymous, while the bathrooms run to oversized showers and separate soaking tubs. The Amanary Spa, two pools, and several restaurants round out what is a solidly comfortable stay for leisure travelers willing to share the elevator.

Palm-tree murals painted across bedroom ceilings set the tone at this boutique hotel in Botafogo, where the London-based Yoo Design Studio made its first foray into hospitality. The aesthetic leans bold: street art, graphic prints, and colorful murals rather than the muted earth tones common to Rio's upscale scene. Rooms on the right side of the building look straight at Sugar Loaf or Corcovado, and the rooftop bar has the views you'd expect.

A seven-suite boutique hotel inside a Seventies Brutalist landmark in Santa Teresa, where the concrete turns out to be warm, colorful, and draped in richly figured Brazilian hardwood. Each suite is named for a musician named George, from Harrison to Seu Jorge, and furnished with pieces by Brazilian modernist Ricardo Fasanello alongside things the owners picked up in Paris and Ghent. The rooftop terrace looks out over Rio, and the vaulted concrete pergola by the pool earns its keep.

Seven rooms in a hillside mansion in Santa Teresa, where the view sweeps straight over Guanabara Bay while the beach crowds stay very far below. This boutique hotel strips the old bones back to hardwood floors and floor-to-ceiling doors, then fills the suites with Jean Cocteau drawings and boldly printed linens, each room named for a Francophile icon. The palm-shaded pool and the airy front porch with its rocking chairs do the rest.

Ten open-air villas sit just off Trancoso's main square, handbuilt by local craftspeople in traditional Bahian style. This boutique resort was designed by the creative director of Diesel, which you'd only know from a certain quiet tidiness and a shower or two spouting from somewhere unexpected. The mosaic pool and garden give it the feel of a private compound, yet the beach and village life are both a short walk away.

A 1930s Art Deco newspaper building on Castro Alves Square, overlooking the Bay of All Saints, is now a Michelin Key luxury hotel from Brazil's Fasano group. Isay Weinfeld's interiors keep the lobby's original grandeur intact, then shift to something cooler and more modern as you move deeper in. Rooms are large even at the entry level, bathrooms lean spa, and the rooftop pool has the kind of bay view that makes checkout feel like a punishment.

Art Deco bones from an era when this place hosted Carmen Miranda and Orson Welles, now running as a full-service luxury hotel in the heart of Salvador's Centro. The original styling survives in the public spaces, merged with contemporary updates and mid-century furniture in the rooms. Standard rooms run small but comfortable; higher categories open up considerably. The rooftop pool looks out over Todos os Santos Bay. The Michelin Guide awarded it one Key.

Seven rooms in a gated residential pocket of Joatinga, one of Rio's quietest wealthy enclaves, with two pools and a private path down to a beach most visitors never find. This boutique guesthouse sits far enough from Ipanema to feel exclusive, close enough to reach it in a cab. Every room catches the Atlantic through floor-to-ceiling windows or a balcony, and the kitchen turns out serious food best eaten on the terrace while the surfers figure out the break below.

Twenty-five bungalows scattered through lush coastal landscape on Brazil's Emerald Coast, and some guests arrive by helicopter, which does set a tone. This adults-only boutique resort holds a Michelin Key and keeps its stretch of shoreline free of high-rises. Rooms come with Egyptian cotton, fireplaces, and private verandas with hammocks; upper tiers add plunge pools and his-and-hers bathrooms. The restaurant serves fresh fish and free-flowing caipirinhas, with a torch-lit private island for those who planned ahead.

Perched on a clifftop above the jungle in Itacaré's surf-town sprawl, this boutique hotel earns its Michelin Key with an infinity pool open to the Atlantic, suites built by local carpenters, and a design that somehow makes Brazilian and Scandinavian feel like the same instinct. The rooftop bar at sunset with a caipirinha is the kind of moment that makes you miss your flight on purpose. Freestanding villas add private pools and kitchens for longer stays.

Wooden walkways thread through tropical gardens connecting the bungalows at this luxury boutique hotel on Pipa's main street, which somehow manages to feel secluded anyway. Two-story bungalows come with king beds, Jacuzzis, and private patios as standard; upgrade and you get hammocks and soaking tubs on a furnished terrace. An L'Occitane spa, two pools, and a beach club shuttle round things out. The Michelin Guide awarded it one Key.

Sandwiched between the Atlantic and the Marapendi lagoon, this large beachfront resort in Barra da Tijuca puts a private balcony on every room, most of them with water views. The 400-plus rooms run spacious and light-filled with floor-to-ceiling windows and deep soaking tubs. Three restaurants by architect Arthur Casas anchor the property; the Brazilian one opens onto the pool, plays live Bossa Nova at night, and mixes a very persuasive caipirinha.

Five suites on a hillside above the Atlantic, about twenty miles southwest of Rio, which is close enough to escape and far enough to forget. The pared-down Brazilian interiors mix minimalism with French armchairs and the odd rustic touch, keeping things warm rather than austere. Polished hardwoods and jetted tubs fill the rooms, while the in-house restaurant bends fresh local seafood through a distinctly Gallic lens.

Five rooms in a colonial residence in Salvador's historic old town, with Todos os Santos Bay visible from the roof pool and golden Buddhist wall hangings covering much of the walls, which is a combination that somehow never feels confused. It reads as a boutique bed-and-breakfast, with hot breakfast delivered to your room each morning and a lobby bar that never closes, handy for both ends of a long night out.

A clifftop boutique hotel in Rio Vermelho, the quieter alternative to Salvador's busy Pelourinho, run by three sisters with a small library of traditional cordel literature tucked inside. The twenty rooms split between a historic building and a newer wing, all hardwood floors, white Egyptian cotton, and picture windows facing the Atlantic. An infinity plunge pool sits on the roof. No guests under 12, which tells you something useful about the vibe.

Eight rooms and an infinity pool perched above a fishing village a few minutes up the coast from Paraty, with island-dotted bay views that make the bar's sunset cocktail feel almost mandatory. It's a small, quietly luxurious coastal retreat, simple enough that the jungle backdrop and the beach just down the hill do most of the decorating. Dinner is either on-site or a short hop into one of the better-preserved colonial towns on Brazil's coast.

The name answers itself on arrival: turquoise is everywhere, from the building's trim to the pool floor to, on a good day, the Atlantic sky beyond. This boutique hotel sits in a colonial Portuguese town on the Costa Verde, and it leans into the mood, rough stone walls and Brazilian hardwood in the common areas, cool whites and dark wood in the rooms. The beds and linens are the thing people remember. A garden, a bar, and a wine cellar handle the rest.

Glass and wood where everyone else goes driftwood and rattan, this boutique hotel on the northern tip of Santa Catarina Island takes its design cues from Brazilian modernism rather than the beach. Freestanding bungalows open onto private pools and sea views through sliding glass panels, the gardens were planted by landscape artist Alex Hanazak, and a terrace restaurant glows with open-air fireplaces after dark. A spa rounds it out for those who need convincing.

A deep pink facade draped in grapevines signals what Quinta das Videiras is going for: a 19th-century Portuguese manor dropped into the lagoon district of Florianópolis. This boutique hotel has sixteen rooms, no children under twelve, and a roster of suites with four-poster beds and rooftop plunge pools. Order the night before and breakfast arrives in-room on blue porcelain. Praia Mole's surf crowd is close, but this place deliberately isn't for them.

Tucked between Atlantic rainforest and the São Paulo state coastline, this 13-room boutique hotel makes a quiet case for the stretch of Brazil that gets overlooked between Rio and São Paulo city. Rooms run from garden-view with hammock to an oceanfront penthouse with a Japanese soaking tub. The L'Occitane spa and a candlelit deck for caipirinhas take care of the rest. Adults only, two-night minimum, and somehow that all sounds like a feature.

A glass tower on the Beira Mar Norte waterfront, with the bay, the mountains, and the bridge to Santa Catarina all visible from the rooms. This is a full-service hotel with the Art Deco-inflected Sofitel house style, a spa, and a restaurant and bar that lean conspicuously Parisian for a city this laid-back. The surroundings make it hard to stay focused on whatever you came here to work on, which may or may not be the point.

Every room has books on display, which is on-brand for the official hotel of Paraty's celebrated literary festival. This boutique pousada occupies a restored colonial mansion in the historic center, with a library stocked for a long weekend, a farm-to-table restaurant spilling onto a shaded terrace, and a pool for the hours between panels. Suites run spacious and colorful, with customizable minibars and thread counts worth mentioning.

Ten split-level bungalows on the Bahian coast, each one rustic on the outside and quietly contemporary within, all of it reachable only by boat or small plane. Brazilian hardwoods run alongside whirlpool baths and proper modern fixtures, and the kitchen leans on whatever the ocean just gave up, folded into Bahian flavors. Fishing, sailing, and nature walks fill the days, which is another way of saying the wilderness does the programming here.

Getting here requires some combination of Jeep, speedboat, bus, and truck, which is either an adventure or a warning, depending on your temperament. Butterfly House is a small, sustainably built pousada-style resort on Brazil's Maraú Peninsula, with eleven rooms and bungalows made from salvaged wood. The beach bar pours caipirinhas, the breakfast table groans with tropical fruit, and the nearest crowd is somewhere very far away.

Mosquito nets over the beds, a pool pointed straight at the Atlantic, and no reason to put shoes on at any point. Casa Na Praia is a small boutique hotel sitting directly on Jericoacoara Beach, with a handful of suites overlooking either the sea or the surrounding dunes. The famous sunset dune is a short walk away, which means sundowner logistics are refreshingly simple.

A black-bottomed pool that mirrors the sky sits at the center of this small boutique hotel on a white-sand stretch just east of Jericoacoara, where the kitesurfers and the serious wind-chasers tend to congregate. The handful of thatched bungalows sprawl generously, some with private plunge pools, all with bathrooms designed for lingering. A kite lounge handles the gear side of things, while the beach bar handles everything else.

A whitewashed pousada perched above Búzios bay, Casas Brancas is the kind of place Brigitte Bardot theoretically blessed when she put this fishing village on the map in the '60s. The 32 rooms are cozy and Mediterranean in feel, arranged around courtyards and terraces with views over the water. There's a restaurant, a spa that punches above the hotel's intimate scale, and a terrace where a cold drink at sunset tends to make every other amenity feel optional.

Trancoso was a fishing village before the discerning Brazilians found it, and it still carries that mellow, slightly unshaven energy. This small hotel, owned by a pair of Italian expats, sits tucked beneath tall trees with even the beach a ten-minute walk off, which is sort of the point. The pool is quiet, the vibe is unhurried, and the old town square turns out to have genuinely good shops and nightspots hiding behind the bohemian front.

Coconut palms shade a semi-Olympic pool at this activity-forward resort in Fortim, a fishing village that takes kitesurfing seriously enough to be known across Ceará for it. The team organizes water skiing on the Jaguaribe River, buggy rides, and horseback riding on the nearby beach, so idle afternoons are optional. When the wind drops, a spa using Amazon-sourced ingredients and a yoga class provide the counterweight.

A hilltop boutique hotel on the Bahian coast, Hotel Maitei keeps things small, seventeen rooms, each with an ocean-view balcony, a two-person Jacuzzi, and linens that suggest someone actually thought about thread count. The beach requires a downhill walk, which turns out to be a reasonable trade when the alternative is a chaise longue by the pool with a bartender slicing limes for caipirinhas below a view of aquamarine water. No children under twelve.

Hammocks woven by local artisans hang on every private porch, which tells you most of what you need to know about the pace here. This boutique beach resort in the fishing village of Pontal de Maceió puts nothing between you and the white sand except tropical gardens and two palm-fringed pools. Bungalow rooms have native wood detailing and king beds, kitesurfing can be arranged, and the fishermen you watch from under a palapa tend to supply that evening's dinner.

A family of monkeys plays in the treetops above the white marble pool, which sets the tone for this beachside resort in Trancoso, one of Bahia's charming coastal villages. Most rooms are independent villas with wood-beamed ceilings, four-poster beds draped in mosquito netting, and hammocks on the veranda. The open-air restaurant handles breakfast, beach bar, and dinner without changing its shirt, and the private beach handles the rest.

Fourteen rooms on a hillside fifty meters above the sea, with hammocks on the deck and an agreeably unfinished beach below. This small eco-hotel sits just outside São Sebastião, a two-and-a-half-hour drive from São Paulo that the Paulistanos treat as their quiet coastal secret. The pace is resolutely unhurried: pool, hot tub, sauna, a spa by L'Occitane au Brésil, and a jungle trail for anyone who feels guilty about doing nothing.

Each of the twenty rooms at this beachfront boutique hotel in Buzios carries a quietly Brazilian theme, suggested by a hand-painted headboard or a ceramic pot rather than anything that hits you over the head. The design otherwise runs contemporary and precise, wooden sofas that look like museum pieces, recycled rubber carpets, and carefully calibrated lighting. Rio glitterati make the three-hour drive for the sea-facing pools and French-Brazilian dinners eaten, naturally, in white linen.

A blue-tiled pool facing the ocean, hammocks strung between palms, and white sand close enough that going back to bed feels like a reasonable plan. This beachfront boutique hotel sits two hours north of Maceió in a village that feels genuinely off the map, and the whole point is to do very little about it. Suites and chalets have crisp linens, dark wood, and private patios; some add their own pools, though the sea is already right there.

Picinguaba means "fish shelter," which tells you everything about the scale of ambition here. This small pousada sits in a tiny fishing village on the Costa Verde, reachable only on foot once the road runs out. Rooms have ceiling fans and mosquito netting instead of air conditioning, no phones, no Wi-fi, and views onto the bay or garden. Evenings gather around an informal family-style dinner, which is exactly the pace the whole place is built around.

Twenty-six wooden bungalows built from locally sourced timber sit close enough to Jericoacoara's sand dunes that you'll want flip-flops before stepping outside. This remote pousada on Brazil's northern coast started as a windsurfing retreat and never really lost that easygoing spirit: thatched roofs, rough-hewn furniture, and the occasional wildflower petals on the bedside table. The bar leans into fresh fruit cocktails, the kitchen into whatever just came off the boat.

A clifftop boutique hotel in Búzios with a steep staircase down to the beach and a pool deck that makes the climb immediately forgivable. Nineteen rooms keep things intimate without going silent; the style leans antique-chic, rustic materials over designer pieces, which gives it the feel of a very tasteful friend's house. Twin pools, a sauna, a jacuzzi, and wide views of the bay are the agenda. Fashionable, slightly unhurried, adults only.

Stilted bungalows built from eucalyptus, mud brick, and straw sit directly on Jericoacoara's main beach, a remote village on Brazil's northern coast so unhurried it only got electricity a couple of decades ago. This pousada leans into that spirit: no TVs, no in-room phones, four-poster beds draped in mosquito nets, and a terrace pool that fills up fast at sunset. There's a kitesurfing school, a spa, and an open-air restaurant serving fresh fish by candlelight.

Little Buddhas turn up on every surface at this 22-room beach resort on Guajiru, a remote stretch of coastline well over two thousand kilometers from Rio. Furniture and art objects were sourced from artisans in Bali, India, and the Middle East, so the vibe lands somewhere between wonder cabinet and boutique retreat. Every room comes with a personal jacuzzi and Trussardi linens; bungalows add a private garden and, occasionally, a toucan.