Copacabana Palace, A Belmond Hotel, Rio de Janeiro

Tucked along Avenida Atlântica at number 1702, the Copacabana Palace faces the full sweep of Copacabana Beach from a 1923 neoclassical facade that has outlasted every tower built around it. The white colonnaded exterior remains the visual anchor of the beachfront strip.

The tiered pool terrace — one of the most photographed in South America — sits above street level, shielded from the promenade. The Palace restaurant holds a long-standing reputation as one of Rio's serious dining addresses rather than a hotel fallback.

Copacabana Beach runs directly across the two-lane cycle path; Ipanema is a fifteen-minute walk south past the Arpoador rocks. The hotel's position makes it equally viable for business in Centro and leisure along the Zona Sul coast.