Sun-worshippers listen up. Hotel Arpoador is on the border
between Ipanema and Copacabana, making it the perfect launchpad to
both of Rio’s world-famous stretches of coastline and their
accompanying beach bars. Not that visitors will be wanting for
watering holes; Lapa, the city’s disused aqueduct turned bohemian
hangout, is a five-minute stroll from the hotel.

You might not spot Mama Ruisa at first, as it’s cosseted by a
thicket of palm-trees, but this 19th-century Brazilian mansion in
Santa Teresa is not to be missed. Each of the mansion’s vast rooms
take a different Hollywood legend as inspiration and have been
lavished with iconic fragments of Brazilian design (think Sergio
Rodrigues furniture and Brunno Jahara glassware). Still not sold?
They have a pool, too.

More than a hotel, Selina Lapa is a hive of activity. You’ll
find people tapping away in its co-working space, stretching out on
the hotel’s suntrap of a yoga deck or seeking refuge in the movie
room. Tune in to its in-house radio station (yes, really) which
plays local musicians, day and night.

Mama Shelter hotels have been sprouting in metropolises the
world over, each one proving that good design needn’t come with a
weighty price tag. Its Rio outpost is a homely enclave – all
tropical pot plants and raffia lamp shades against exposed brick.
It’s located in Santa Teresa, an area teeming with artists’ studios
and bars – try Bar do Gomes for starters.

When Parisian designer Lauren Gelis set his mind to renovating
this iconic mansion, he did so while still paying reverence to the
building’s history. Here, original features such as chandeliers and
reclaimed-wood floors serve as a backdrop to colonial-style
antiques. It has a pool and a rustic restaurant, while the
beautiful gardens of Museu Chacará do Céu are just next door. In
other words: it’s a total steal.

There’s nothing in-your-face about the Ipanema Inn. It’s the
brainchild of local architect Bel Lobo, and is decked out with the
firm’s signature pale-wood panelling and simple colour schemes. The
hotel’s location mere footsteps from the shore makes it an
appealing option for beach bums with exquisite taste.

Okay, it’s not technically a hotel, but hostels don’t get much
snappier than Villa 25, a recently renovated 19th-century property
in the upmarket neighbourhood of Laranjeiras, away from the city’s
more tourist-ridden haunts. Private rooms can be booked at a
premium, but otherwise guests stay in dormitories. Revel in the
building’s elegantly restored architecture while reclining in a
pool-side deckchair. Smug doesn’t cut it.