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Rosewood São Paulo

São Paulo

• The Best Hotel in South America 2024

A love letter to Brazil’s diverse culture and land

Give me the lowdown: Rosewood’s first South American property, opened in 2022, is an architecturally dazzling, art-filled urban oasis set within the city’s central Cidade Matarazzo – a complex of early 20th-century buildings painstakingly preserved and transformed into glossy stores, hip hangouts and high-end private residences. Emblematic of Rosewood’s overarching ‘A Sense of Place’ philosophy, the hotel’s 180 rooms and suites are spread across a historic former maternity hospital (in whose wards 500,000 Paulistanos were born) and a Jean Nouvel-designed vertical garden tower inspired by Brazil’s lush Atlantic Forest – fitting features for The Best Hotel in South America for the second year in a row.

What’s the vibe? Unsurprisingly, with entrepreneur Alexandre Allard at the helm – the man credited with breathing new life into the House of Balmain – the hotel’s ambience is anything but beige. A fashionable crew of local and international movers and shakers fill the six on-site restaurants nightly, with lobby bar Le Jardin, the rooftop infinity pool and the expansive spa all having become hot-ticket destinations in their own right. In 2024, the hotel launched a penthouse suite that can accommodate eight people. The space covers 12,000 square feet and has a home-like feel with a garden inspired by Brazil’s rainforest, an oversized marble bathtub and an infinity pool offering breathtaking views of the city.

More on that art: Vying for attention with the property’s much-lauded, Philippe Starck-outfitted interiors – all warm wood, earthy tones and tactile fabrics – are a staggering 450 site-specific artworks. Created exclusively in collaboration with 57 local artists, with a focus on the lived Brazilian experience, the collection includes sculptures, paintings, drawings, tile work and textiles. Standouts include the celestial, somewhat trippy ceiling of the hotel’s jazz bar, Rabo di Galo, which took artist Rodrigo de Azevado Saad, aka Cabelo, a total of 68 hours to complete.

Eco credentials: The hotel’s commitment to preserving Brazil’s natural environment goes well beyond no single-use plastics – though guests certainly won’t find any of those here. The Cidade Matarazzo development, Brazil’s largest upcycling project, is one of the country’s greenest, made using 100% locally sourced materials, with its biophilic design supporting a biodiversity programme aimed at repopulating the indigenous flora and fauna from the Mata Atlantica rainforest. Look up to count the 250 trees of up to 14m in height adorning the hotel’s Mata Atlantica Tower. A rigorous renewable energy plan is also in place, alongside an in-house water filtration system that produces glass-bottled water for guests’ consumption. 

Key Information

• Rooms: 160
• Starting Rate: $700
• Dining: Le Jardin
• Drinking: Rabo di Galo
• At the Hotel: Swimming pool(s), spa/wellness centre, fitness centre, pet friendly, family friendly
•  R. Itapeva 435, Bela Vista, São Paulo, SP, 01332-000, Brazil
• +55 11 3797-0500
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