Hotel Fasano Rio de Janeiro

Description:

• The famous enfant terrible of the design world Phillippe Starck is known for his chairs and hotel lobbies and other high-end hotel bits the world over; this was his first-ever opportunity to design a complete hotel. Top to bottom, inside and out, it's all Starck. The opportunity came courtesy of a noted São Paulo hotelier family (named Fasano) who asked Starck to bring his unique gifts to bear designing a boutique hotel on a small but privileged site on Ipanema beach. The result does not disappoint. From lobby lounge and restaurant to rooftop pool deck the hotel displays Starck's sense for space and materials. The rooftop pool, in particular, is a thing of beauty, a low square pond of chiseled white marble with an infinite edge that seems to flow out the parapet and join with sand and sea. Hallways are completely covered in wood paneling, which together with a big Dr. Seuss chair and floor-panel room numbers gives the hallways a James Bond/Austin Powers shaggalicious kind of feel. Inside, rooms feature the same design sense: The queen-size beds are set off at an oblique angle to the room's basic rectangle. There's a small desk area and kind of wavy kitschy wall mirrors, plus a bathroom with rainfall showers and wide, square white basin, a motif carried on in the rooftop pool. The high level of design may make up for the superior rooms' rather less than generous dimensions, and lack of balcony or ocean view. (Or it may not.) The deluxe oceanview rooms are a much more comfortable size, with the same bed design, plus a small sitting area and a balcony featuring a pair of lovely '50s modern chairs, made from tropical hardwood instead of teak. The difference in feeling is significant (as for the price, what's a few hundred dollars when you're splurging?). The oceanview suites are larger still, with a retractable silk curtain to separate off a comfortable little sitting area, which comes with its own separate bathroom facilities. The quality of everything in all rooms -- bedding, bathroom products, bathrobes -- is all top-notch. And if you can't afford the room rate, it's still worth coming in for a fancy cocktail in the lobby lounge or big white restaurant bar, to admire the high design and watch the beautiful people at play.

• © Frommer's 2012

Awards:

Frommer's

•  Very Highly Recommended 2010