The Best Resorts in Brazil

A hillside resort of 7 suites and 13 villas outside Campos do Jordão, Botanique holds a Michelin Key and leans hard into what it calls "post-luxury," which means indigenous jacaranda and chocolate slate instead of imported marble, art from over a hundred Brazilian designers, and a geologist-curated tasting menu of regional waters. The restaurant sits in something close to a treehouse, and rare vintage Brazilian records set the mood throughout.

Taíba draws surfers for the wind and waves, and Carmel Taíba is the resort that draws everyone else. Rooms and geometric villas pair clean architectural lines with rich natural materials, the Caudalie spa imports a distinctly French approach to pampering, and the kitchen stays local to Ceará. The Michelin Guide has awarded it one Key. An hour from Fortaleza, it sits on an Atlantic beach dramatic enough to justify the drive on its own.

Complimentary Havaianas come with the room, which tells you something about the register this resort is pitching for, even if the marble bathrooms and sweeping sea views are doing the heavy lifting. Set along the Costa Verde coast, the Fasano Angra dos Reis holds a Michelin Key and runs the full lineup: a fine-dining restaurant, a beachside spot for lighter plates, a French patisserie, spa, and boat trips. The pool and the chaise longue may outlast all of it.

Tucked between Atlantic forest and open ocean on Brazil's far northeastern coast, this Michelin Key boutique resort earns notice for bringing genuine design ambition somewhere that had none. Indigenous wood and stone outside give way to rough-hewn interiors with crisp minimalist lines inside. The spa punches above its weight, and the restaurant draws locals with regional specialties touched by Portuguese influence, so it's never purely a desert-island bubble.

Twin 18-hole golf courses, an equestrian center, and a heliport make the target demographic fairly clear at this countryside resort set on 2,500 acres about an hour inland from São Paulo. The Fasano group brings its Italian-inflected hospitality to the farmland, with Isay Weinfeld's architecture doing the heavy lifting: natural wood and stone, but polished to a degree that "rustic" would never survive. Rooms run on sunlight and warm materials rather than chandelier-and-gold opulence. It holds a Michelin Key.

A few miles down the coast from Trancoso's famous square, Fasano's beach resort sits between tropical forest and the Atlantic on a quiet stretch of sand. Isay Weinfeld's white geometric bungalows keep things minimal inside, all marble and pale wood, while hand-woven hammocks and thatched terraces nod to where you actually are. The casual beachfront bar, wooden tables set on sand beneath an almond tree, quietly upstages the main restaurant. Michelin one Key.

Bungalows on stilts in a coconut grove, each with a wraparound deck and a mosquito-netted bed the size of a small country, set between dense Atlantic rainforest and a white sand beach on the Bahia coast. This eco-conscious luxury resort holds a Michelin Key, and the design keeps its footprint quiet while the service does not. Surfing, kayaking, and trail walks are available for the motivated; sunset cocktails and fresh Bahian seafood are the more popular program.

The German national team bunked here during the 2014 World Cup, trained on its courts, and left with the trophy. Campo Bahia is a villa resort on the Bahian coast, sitting beside a fishing village on a genuinely beautiful beach. Up to fourteen villas sleep large groups or subdivide for smaller ones, styled simply but with local warmth. There's a spa, beachside gym, yoga, paddleboarding, and a churrasco grill for when the detox menu loses its appeal.

Wooden chalets connected by outdoor walkways cling to a hillside at the edge of the largest canyon system in South America, inside Aparados da Serra National Park. This luxury resort leans into the remoteness rather than apologizing for it, with a stone fireplace lodge, a cocktail bar, a firepit terrace, and an L'Occitane spa. Some rooms are cottages, some are actual tents, and all are considerably more comfortable than the canyon below.