← Intelligence Squared
Loading summary
Transcript101 lines
- [00:01]
Progressive Insurance Narrator
Insurance isn't one size fits all, and shopping for it shouldn't feel like squeezing into something that just doesn't fit. That's why drivers have enjoyed Progressive's Name your price tool for years. With the name your price tool, you tell them what you want to pay and they show you options that fit your budget enough. Hunting for discounts, trying to calculate rates, and tinkering with coverages. Maybe you're picking out your very first policy, or maybe you're just looking for something that works better for you and your family. Either way, they make it simple to see your options. No guesswork, no surprises. Ready to see how easy and fun shopping for car insurance can be? Visit progressive.com and give the Name your price tool a try. Take the stress out of shopping and find coverage that fits your life on your terms. Progressive Casualty Insurance Company and Affiliates Price and coverage match limited by state law
- [00:55]
Google Chrome Sponsor Narrator
this episode is brought to you by Google Chrome. You think you know a browser, but Gemini and Chrome? That's new. It can help you with with practically anything on the web, like restoring a vintage motorcycle from a 50 page restoration block. Or finally break down that long article you've had open for weeks. Gemini and Chrome is here for it, ready to make anything online make sense. There's no place like Chrome. Check responses Setup required. Compatibility and availability varies. 18/.
- [01:23]
Conor Boyle
Hello, I'm Head of Programming Conor Boyle. Today we're whisking you away with a handpicked episode of Armchair Escapism. After a standout first season, Hotels with History is back. Produced by Intelligence Squared in partnership with Peron International, this new season sees hosts Jules Perrone and Richard E. Grant travel further than ever to some of the world's most storied hotels. This season you can stroll along white sand to the Copacabana palace, watch the 1918 German Revolution unfold from the windows of Berlin's Hotel Adlon, and of course, enjoy Richard's inimitable impersonations of Marlene Dietrich. In each episode, Richard and Jules check in to a different hotel, uncovering the unforgettable moments that took place within its walls and beyond its grounds, exploring how the tides of history transformed entire regions into the luxury destinations we know today. Now, over to Jules and Richard for Hotels with History.
- [02:30]
Richard E. Grant
There's a phrase. It comes from the Quechua people of the high Andes, a language spoken long before Portuguese sailors ever rounded the Cape, long before anyone thought to build anything on this particular curve of the South American coast. The phrase is copa ka guana. It is said to mean the luminous place, the Illuminated place, the place with a view. Somehow that name traveled down from the mountains across the continent, through centuries of collision and conquest and reinvention. Rio de Janeiro, the river of January, named by sailors who arrived in January 1502, mistook this vast, glittering bay for the mouth of a river and sailed on, not knowing what they'd found. The phrase carries on to the quiet fringes of what will become one of the biggest metropolises in the world. Copacabana. And at the heart of it, where the city ends and the ocean begins, a hotel. One that has been standing since the birth of modern Brazil. Watching the waves come in and watching the city truly come into its own. This is the story of the Copacabana Palace. Welcome to Hotels With History.
- [03:52]
Jules Perrone
I'm Jules Perrone.
- [03:53]
Richard E. Grant
And I'm Richard E. Grant. We've been brought together by a shared fascination with what makes a legendary hotel and by the stories embedded in their walls.
- [04:03]
Jules Perrone
Because if you want to truly understand a city, you should start with its hotels.
- [04:08]
Richard E. Grant
In every episode, we'll take you inside some of the world's most iconic and storied hotels.
- [04:13]
Jules Perrone
In today's episode, the hotel that has seen it all, from carnivals and parties to political machinations and coups. I must say, I was a little bit jealous to be sending you off to this hotel. I relish any time I get to spend on these particular stretches of beach.
- [04:31]
Richard E. Grant
And what a time I had. This hotel is a blinding, brilliant architectural meringue of a building. It sits there like a giant white cake, left out on the sound. But it's not just a pretty face. Oh, no. To understand this building is to understand the making of modern Brazil, warts and all.
- [04:50]
Jules Perrone
For listeners who only know Copacabana from a certain Barry Manilo song, let's just quickly paint a picture of the area. Placed a stone's throw away from the equally as iconic Ipanema beach. Copacabana is a borough in the south zone of Rio. As well as being a cultural hub, it is probably best known for its huge white sanded beach that stretches a whole 4km. The beach is the central hub for Rio's iconic New Year's Eve celebrations.
- [05:17]
Richard E. Grant
I have to say, standing on the beach in front of the hotel, staring up at this magnificent building, it's just electric. You can feel the bustling energy of the iconic black and white mosaic promenade it sits in front of. And while you can't actually see it, the presence of 10 Christ the Redeemer is impossible to ignore. But it's extraordinary to think that before this palace Arrived. This whole stretch was, well, nothing. Just salt, sand, and solitude. So how did this stretch of wilderness become one of the most famous beaches in the world?
- [05:53]
Jules Perrone
We should begin in the 18th century. Rio has been the Portuguese colonial capital since 1763. Brazil has gold, diamonds, and sugar by the bucket load. And Rio is the natural port to extract and send to Lisbon.
- [06:08]
Richard E. Grant
The word capital is doing quite a bit of heavy lifting there, though, isn't it? Because Rio at this moment in time is a small, poorly kept port town. The population, mostly made up of enslaved people, is about 50,000. The Portuguese Crown has actively banned printing presses, universities, newspapers, and trade is tightly controlled. But things changed almost overnight.
- [06:33]
Jules Perrone
1807. Napoleon Bonaparte's armies are rolling across Europe. France demands that Portugal close its ports to British ships. The Portuguese refuse. And so, with the looming threat of French troops quite literally marching towards Lisbon, the entire Portuguese court decides to flee.
- [06:52]
Richard E. Grant
We're not even being dramatic here, listeners. The entire court, the king, his mother, his wife, servants, possessions, and a large proportion of Lisbon's urban elite, all on a fleet of ships. Overnight, Rio de Janeiro becomes the capital of the Portuguese Empire.
- [07:09]
Jules Perrone
Almost immediately, the port is thrown open to foreign trade, and European merchants, noblemen, and artists begin to pour in. The city gets its first printing press, bank, and a botanical garden. The Royal Library is established with the 60,000 volumes the court has brought from Lisbon.
- [07:27]
Richard E. Grant
Now, we're not going to pretend that life gets materially better for the people who had been living in Rio prior to this. Glamour and innovation on the surface almost always comes at a human cost. The enslaved population are swiftly put to work in houses, on the docks and, crucially, in the coffee plantations. The Paraiba Valley, west of Rio beach, becomes the coffee heartland of the world.
- [07:50]
Jules Perrone
But in 1815, Brazil is elevated from a colony to a kingdom. So the country itself is, at the very least, no longer a possession. But this is swiftly under threat. The king doesn't return to Lisbon until 1821. He is called back by the remaining Portuguese court, the Cortes, who are asking him to revoke the changes that have been made. In a nutshell, they are sick of sharing their goods with the world. He leaves his son Pedro behind as regent.
- [08:18]
Richard E. Grant
But when the Cortes ask Pedro to come home too, he refuses. And on 7th of September, 1822, he goes one step further. And on the banks of the Ipiranga river, he draws his sword and bellows, independence or death. Brazil has had a taste of what it would feel like to be its own country. And Pedro wins. And with him at his helm, Brazil becomes An empire.
- [08:45]
Jules Perrone
Emperor Pedro I is erratic. He alienates the Brazilian elite, gets entangled in wars and scandals. And in 1831, he abdicates in favor of his son and sails back to Europe. Emperor Pedro II is a different story. He rules from the age of 14 for nearly 50 years.
- [09:05]
Richard E. Grant
And he is personally, vehemently opposed to slavery. He calls it a blot on the nation. Yet the country has an economy that currently depends on it. So the process of abolition is agonisingly slow. A law in 1850 finally bans the transatlantic slave trade, though smuggling continues. In 1871, children born to enslaved mothers are freed. And finally, on 13 May 1888, abolition immediate and unconditional. No compensation to slaveholders, which, as you
- [09:41]
Jules Perrone
can imagine, is certainly not a popular decision amongst the elite. So just 18 months after abolition, a military coup deposes Pedro II. Brazil is officially declared a republic.
- [09:57]
Richard E. Grant
It's time to turn their attention into building a new identity. And there are some unavoidable facts about Rio that shape its potential. The city is effectively hemmed in. To the north, Guanabara Bay. To the south, a series of huge, impenetrable hills. And just past those hills, a long crescent of white sand, largely empty, largely unknown. That beach is, of course, Copacabana.
- [10:24]
Jules Perrone
For much of the period we've just spoken about, Copacabana is just a quiet fishing village. But. But in 1892, everything changes when the tram company decides to extend the tram lines to Copacabana. And this vision requires literally burrowing directly through the rock, allowing an easy path from Rio to the south side. It takes eight months. And finally, what is now affectionately called the old tunnel opens.
- [10:49]
Richard E. Grant
Residents of central Rio see huge possibilities. Suddenly, their world cracks open. Sea air and open spaces are calling. And then, in 1919, engineer Paolo G. Franchin oversees the extension of Atlantic Avenue, the boulevard that stretches alongside the beach.
- [11:08]
Jules Perrone
More and more rear residents are finding themselves drawn to the south side. And this works well for the political ambitions at play at the time, because this wasn't all just town planning and real estate.
- [11:18]
Richard E. Grant
It never is, is it? Because in 1922, Brazil is preparing to mark the centenary of its independence. President Pessoa wants to present Rio as a modern capital, capable of receiving international visitors with confidence and elegance. He decides a grand beachfront hotel is essential to this vision.
- [11:37]
Jules Perrone
So he enlists the help of Octavio Guinle, who already owns the Hotel palace in Rio and the Esplanada in Sao Paulo. The government are pretty desperate for this to happen, so support construction through tax incentives. And award an even bigger prize, a casino license.
- [11:55]
Richard E. Grant
Pessoa declares he is creating a monument intended to endure, which is a fairly bold vision for a hotel. But I think we'd both agree that this is exactly what he does, even down to the design itself, because the facade really doesn't look like much else in Rio, does it?
- [12:12]
Jules Perrone
It's very European, which is probably thanks to Joseph Gere, the French architect who Ginley hires for the job. He draws his inspiration directly from the seaside hotels of the French Riviera. It's sort of like a palace hotel, reminiscent of the Belle Epoque.
- [12:29]
Richard E. Grant
It's all very well having a French Riviera vision, but this is not a French Rivieran environment. Construction is a nightmare.
- [12:38]
Jules Perrone
A lot of sand, yes, which is
- [12:40]
Richard E. Grant
one of the key issues. Foundations have to be sunk to a depth of 14 meters just to keep the building stable on the shifting coastline. And then there are the materials Ginley wants. Marble from Carrara, Bohemian crystal and porcelain from limoges.
- [12:56]
Jules Perrone
And in 1922, a violent undertow damages the hotel's lower floors, which are still mid construction. It finally opens 11 months late, on August 13, 1923, missing the centenary it
- [13:10]
Richard E. Grant
was supposed to serve. Which would be more of a shame were the hotel itself not such a spectacle. It opens with 230 rooms, supported by more than 1,000 staff. That's more than four members of staff per room, which was extraordinary. In 1923, it swiftly becomes the most prestigious place to be seen in Rio.
- [13:31]
Jules Perrone
But with that larger workforce and with such high standards, the hotel really was dependent on the casino for its survival. Not only does the house always win, but the glamour of the hotel was part of the reason wealthy clientele were flocking there to begin with. So you can imagine the UPROAR when in 1924, the President the time attempts to revoke the license.
- [13:53]
Richard E. Grant
The hotel fights back. And after a battle that lasts almost 10 years, they manage to secure the casino license. At least during the interwar years, that is.
- [14:03]
Jules Perrone
And in the background, Brazil is essentially in a slow motion constitutional crisis. Throughout the 1920s, only between 2 and 3% of the total population is can actually vote. Elections are rigged. Rural voters face pressure from their bosses to vote a certain way through a system very akin to feudalism. The local strongmen, the coroniers, who control their districts like private fiefdoms. The presidency of Brazil basically gets handed between two states every four years. Sao Paulo, the chief producers of coffee. And Minas Jurais, known for dairy production.
- [14:40]
Richard E. Grant
There's a charming nickname for this setup, isn't there Cafe con lechis, coffee with milk?
- [14:45]
Jules Perrone
Each state would support the other's candidates in exchange for the same favor next time round. And it comes to a head on the 5th of July, 1922, on the very year of the centenary of Brazil, when a group of young army officers begin a rebellion at Forte de Copacabana, just a few hundred metres down the beach from where the hotel is being
- [15:06]
Richard E. Grant
built, the rebellion is crushed, the rebels are arrested or killed, but the movement doesn't die. Oh, no. While Ginley is fighting his battle to keep his casino, there are battles going on up and down the country for years.
- [15:19]
Jules Perrone
And the Copacamana palace eventually gets dragged into the dark shadows of politics in a more direct way than they might have liked in the late 1920s, the President of Brazil is Washington Louis, and in 1928, he arrives at the Copacabana palace with his mistress, a young woman named Elvira.
- [15:37]
Richard E. Grant
Here is the official statement of what happened that evening. The President is rushed to hospital with a burst appendix. Fairly routine stuff, except for the fact that it's a total lie, because the president was in fact being treated for something rather more serious. A gunshot wound inflicted by Elvira herself,
- [15:56]
Jules Perrone
who four days later is found dead in what police rule, a suicide.
- [16:00]
Richard E. Grant
Luis himself survives, but his political career doesn't quite. In 1930, he makes a disastrous decision at the end of his term, when he is supposed to honour the Cafe Com Lecce agreement, he decides to back another Sao Paulo candidate. The political and military establishment turn on him and he is deposed in October 1930.
- [16:21]
Jules Perrone
But while political instability is raging outside, inside the Copacabana palace, the chandeliers are lit, the Champagne is on ice and the rooms are heaving. If you ask someone to think of Brazil, chances are Carnival is going to be one of the first things on their minds. Carnival was brought to Brazil by the Portuguese in the 16th or 17th centuries. The word actually comes from carne lavare, to remove meat, and refers to the feast you traditionally would have before Lent.
- [16:57]
Richard E. Grant
It's a far cry from its origins now, isn't it? The original idea is that if you're going to fast, you might as well thoroughly enjoy yourself beforehand. And, well, I think the Brazilians have certainly embraced that concept.
- [17:10]
Jules Perrone
Slowly, the festivities start to blend with the traditions of the indigenous and African cultures in Brazil. Vibrant rhythms and dances that would become the groundwork for samba. Elaborate masks and costumes are made using grass and feathers. And while the majority of people are partying in the streets, there is a tradition of elite Balls. And the Copacabana palace begins its own tradition not long after opening the Copper Ball.
- [17:36]
Richard E. Grant
Oh, to be a fly on the wall of that first ball in 1924. The star of the show is Misstenquet, a French singer and cabaret star. She's actually famous for having legs insured for 500,000 francs. That's over £2 million today. Do you know what the irony was though, Jules? She wasn't actually allowed to show them off. This is a Catholic society, after all, and values are values.
- [18:01]
Jules Perrone
On the night of the ball, people are crowding outside the entrance, eager to see the arriving celebrities and their extravagant carnival costumes. It quickly gains a reputation as one of the world's greatest parties, and you can still attend today.
- [18:16]
Richard E. Grant
The city of Rio itself was seeing a transformation. The mayor, Pereira Passos, has visited Paris and he comes back determined to create a similar atmosphere in Rio. He tears down colonial buildings, widens streets and fills the city with grand boulevards and neoclassical structures.
- [18:34]
Jules Perrone
The iconic Christ the Redeemer is completed in 1931. And by this point there is already a cable car running up Sugarloaf Mountain and a funicular railway up Cocovardo mountain. The 30s sees a boom in travel potential. Pan Am has created something called a flying boat, which is exactly what it says on the tin. It could float, taxi, take off and land on water.
- [18:58]
Richard E. Grant
It was called the Brazilian Clipper, named in honor of the brand new route taking passengers from Miami straight down to Rio de Janeiro. And this is huge because suddenly you no longer have to take a boat for weeks to reach Rio. It is just a few days away.
- [19:14]
Jules Perrone
And then in 1933, one of Hollywood's major studios, RKO, takes notice. North American audiences deep in the depression are in desperate need of escapism. And there is no place better than a sun drenched glamorous paradise. They release a film called Flying down to Rio.
- [19:35]
Richard E. Grant
The first screen pairing of Fred Astaire and Ginger Rogers. There's that famous sequence where chorus girls dance on the wings of an airplane, flying directly over the Copacabana Palace. But it's worth pointing out the scenes are actually filmed on Hollywood sets and in Malibu. But it doesn't really matter. The film kickstarts a global fascination with Rio.
- [19:56]
Jules Perrone
The picture that has been painted of Rio is one of samba music and carnival. And the hotel wants to be at the heart of this. So in 1938, they inaugurate its Golden Room, the first serious show venue for the neighborhood of Copacabana. The space is opened with a performance by actor, cabaret singer and entertainer Maurice Chevalier, who in this moment in time is one of France's greatest performers and a darling of Hollywood.
- [20:23]
Richard E. Grant
And Chevalier is only the beginning. The Golden Room of the Copacabana palace will bear witness to performances from some of the greatest entertainers in history. Nat King Cole, Ella Fitzgerald, Edith Piaf. Hotels With History favorite Josephine Baker, Tony Bennett and Ray Charles all perform here too.
- [20:42]
Jules Perrone
As these great performers from around the world fill the halls of Rio with music and entertainment, Brazil itself is starting to be inspired and it's ready to give something back. In the late 1950s, there is an influx of jazz coming out of North America. Brazilians begin to mix it with the essence of Rio rhythm and samba and the very pulse of the city. The result, Bozza nova.
- [21:07]
Richard E. Grant
The two men at the absolute centre of this are Tom Jobim and Joao Gilberto. Jobim is a composer and pianist who hears the relationship between jazz harmony and Brazilian rhythm that nobody else had quite articulated before. And Gilberto is perhaps the most singular musical figure Brazil has ever produced. They find their stage in the Golden Room too.
- [21:31]
Jules Perrone
The sound goes stratospheric. One song in particular, written by Jobim and poet Vinas J. Moraes, will become one of the most recorded songs in history. And it is written, if you can believe it, on the back of a cocktail napkin. It's about a true story, actually. Observing a girl, tall and tanned, making her way between Copacabana and and Ipanema.
- [21:54]
Richard E. Grant
I love that song. Gao Gilberto does a version two with Stan Getz.
- [21:59]
Jules Perrone
The hotel's Golden Book, or guest register, begins to see an influx of huge names signing in. Names like Tyrone Power, Henry Fonda, Errol Flynn, Bing Crosby and Walt Disney.
- [22:11]
Richard E. Grant
And speaking of swashbuckling Errol Flynn, he certainly leaves his mark on the hotel's mythology. The stories describe Flynn running completely naked through the hotel corridors late at night.
- [22:21]
Jules Perrone
He's not the only loose cannon. Orson Welles stays in 1942 to work on a documentary. He stays for eight months, but it isn't exactly a quiet stay. He's going through a turbulent breakup and legend has it that he throws furniture, including his desk, out of the window of his sixth floor suite directly into the pool below.
- [22:41]
Richard E. Grant
Marlene Dietrich is there too, in the 1950s, although I'm not sure how much she got into the spirit. She apparently refused local produce entirely, which, having sampled some of the Brazilian delicacies, I can say was a bad choice.
- [22:55]
Jules Perrone
And Janis Joplin has her own pool incident in 1970. She's actually asked to leave after going for a naked swim.
- [23:02]
Richard E. Grant
This has reminded me actually of one of the strangest early guest stories. The Prince of Wales, who visited in 1931. He apparently scooped a goldfish out of the hotel aquarium with his bare hands and jumped in the pool with it
- [23:18]
Jules Perrone
while the guests were streaming in. The party couldn't last forever. In the 1940s, Rio is on the edge of an unprecedented construction and population boom. The population will double in the coming few decades, and buildings are being allowed to go higher than ever before. But storm clouds are brewing far away in Europe now.
- [23:37]
Richard E. Grant
Europe at this point is in a very dark place Indeed. It is 1939 and. And the continent is at war. The Carlton in Cannes, one of the hotels that inspired Joseph Gere, is requisitioned. The Negresco in Nice is turned into a hospital, just as it was in the first World War. The whole world of Belle Epoque European glamour that the Copacabana palace was built to embody, is being dismantled, bombed and occupied. But over in Rio, the chandeliers are still burning bright.
- [24:08]
Jules Perrone
Brazil, at least initially, is neutral. It becomes somewhat of a refuge. And the Copacabana palace fills with European money that has, well, nowhere else to go. But the neutrality doesn't last long.
- [24:21]
Richard E. Grant
In August 1942, a single German U boat is patrolling the Brazilian coastline and sinks five Brazilian ships in two days. Civilian ships, over 600 people are killed. And because Brazil is neutral and in their own waters, the outrage is immediate and enormous. Within weeks, Brazil declares war on Germany and Italy.
- [24:44]
Jules Perrone
Brazil becomes the only South American country to send combat troops to fight in Europe. And it's ironic, because while that's happening back in Rio, the golden age continues. Joining the allied cause brings Brazil closer to North America than it has ever been.
- [24:59]
Richard E. Grant
Yes, US Servicemen pour through Rio. Pan Am flights multiply. American money flows in. The golden room, if anything, is busier than ever. But then, a year after the war ends, a terrible blow for the hotel.
- [25:14]
Jules Perrone
Let's go to the election of 1946. Two men are up for the presidency. Gomez, who is loudly anti gambling and who has made closing casinos one of his number one priorities. And Dutra, who has the support of the incumbent president, Vargas. Vargas is the person who had legalized casinos 12 years earlier. So Dutra's position seems obvious.
- [25:37]
Richard E. Grant
Dutra, with the support of casino owners and gambling fans, wins. But there is treachery afoot. In a shock to everyone, Dyutra does, in fact ban gambling. He said it is incompatible with the moral, legal and religious tradition of Brazil and not something that cultured peoples tolerate.
- [25:57]
Jules Perrone
The scale of this decision is huge. Brazil at this time has 70 casinos employing swathes of people and financing establishments, just like the Copacabana Palace. The hotel tries to adapt with the lost revenue. They convert the casino space into a concert hall and complete a modernization program. In 1949, they try to increase capacity.
- [26:19]
Richard E. Grant
But it's not the same, is it?
- [26:20]
Jules Perrone
No, these are pragmatic efforts, but. But they can't replicate the magnetism of the casino years. And then comes the political blow. In 1960, the capital of Brazil moves
- [26:31]
Richard E. Grant
from Rio to Brasilia, which seems completely random, doesn't it? But it had actually been a long time coming. It had been in the constitution since the start that eventually the capital would move away from its vulnerable oceanside position.
- [26:45]
Jules Perrone
The ministries, the diplomats, the administrative prestige, all, all gone. And that's just the start. Because in 1964, something happens in Brazil that changes everything.
- [26:56]
Richard E. Grant
It's 31 March 1964, and the Brazilian military launches a coup. The democratically elected president Gulal, a left leaning reformist who'd been pushing for land reform and workers rights, is deposed. Overnight, he flees to Uruguay and a military dictatorship takes power that will not release its grip. And for 21 years, in the early
- [27:19]
Jules Perrone
years, the dictatorship proceeds with some caution. But at the end of 1968, something called Institutional Act Number 5 is issued. It gives the military unlimited power, suspends the constitution and shuts down Congress. Essentially a coup within a coup.
- [27:36]
Richard E. Grant
Over two decades, an estimated 50,000 people are detained, 7,000 are driven into exile, and several hundred are forcibly disappeared. And arts and culture is heavily monitored and censored. The cultural lifeblood of the Golden Room has been shut off.
- [27:53]
Jules Perrone
It's not just that foreign artists don't want to come. Gilberto Gil and Caetano Veloso, two of Brazil's own musical icons, are arrested in 1969 and forced into exile in London. By 1985, once civilian rule has been restored, the hotel is seriously contemplating demolition. Other historic buildings in Rio have already been claimed by the wrecking ball.
- [28:15]
Richard E. Grant
This, however, is also the year that Queen performs at the first ever Rock in Rio festival, which has since become a biennial affair. This first concert was almost like a country finally relaxing after 21 years of holding its breath. Freddie Mercury stays at the hotel and hosts a private after party. There, fans gathered on the beach and lit 1,500 candles to spell out the word Queen.
- [28:40]
Jules Perrone
Perhaps this helped to remind everyone of the iconic nature of the Copacabana palace, because, thankfully, preservation prevails. A combination of federal, state and municipal heritage protections Recognize it as an irreplaceable cultural landmark. The building is framed as part of Rio's Berry fabric and its savior comes
- [29:00]
Richard E. Grant
in the form of James Sherwood, the founder of Orient Express Hotels, which would eventually become Belmont. The Ginley family, who have owned the hotel this entire time, sell in 1989. Time for some seriously ambitious restoration.
- [29:14]
Jules Perrone
We've mentioned Belmond already. They are the modern owners of the Mount Nelson in South Africa. Belmond consider themselves to be custodians of storied properties and they are fantastic at bringing icons back to life. In 1990, the facade is re illuminated, restoring its visual prominence on the skyline. And in 1991, the swimming pool is renovated.
- [29:38]
Richard E. Grant
The one Orson Welles used as a target?
- [29:40]
Jules Perrone
The very same. That same year, the hotel sees a visit from Prince Charles and Princess Diana. She would take early morning swims alone in that renovated pool. One such trip resulting in that famous paparazzo photo. Belmont's trick is that they have such an obvious respect for the architectural heritage of their buildings. They don't try to reinvent anything, just quality restorations. And the strategy works.
- [30:03]
Richard E. Grant
I have to say, I wholeheartedly agree, Jules. It honestly didn't feel like just a luxury hotel. It is so grounded in its history. I loved hearing about the Meteco programme, which sees major contemporary artists travel to Belmont's iconic properties around the world to create new site specific works inspired directly by the nature and architecture of of their surroundings.
- [30:26]
Jules Perrone
And they're looking outside their walls too. They've partnered with Casa Amorella, a cultural centre in one of Ria's favelas, to promote local artists and initiatives.
- [30:35]
Richard E. Grant
Not long ago, the hotel celebrated its 100th birthday, which also marked two centuries of Brazil itself. In 2023, there was a centenary Copa ball with the theme of the Time Tunnel. It felt like the perfect bridge between the hotel's glamorous past and and its vibrant future.
- [30:53]
Jules Perrone
This has really got me thinking about the idea of Copacabana being this luminous place that the name suggests. It's exactly how it feels when you look out at the beach during your stay.
- [31:03]
Richard E. Grant
And to our listeners, if you ever find yourself in Rio, just look for the white building that looks like a mirage on the edge of the beach. You can't miss it.
- [31:12]
Jules Perrone
So that's the end of this episode of Hotels with History. With me, Jules Perrine.
- [31:16]
Richard E. Grant
Me Richard E. Grob.
- [31:18]
Jules Perrone
Thank you for exploring the Copacabana palace with us and see you next time.
- [31:32]
Conor Boyle
Thank you for joining us for this episode of Hotels with History, produced by Intelligence Squared in partnership with Peron. If you enjoyed it, just search hotels with history wherever you're listening to this podcast and follow the show so you don't miss an episode.
- [31:54]
Grainger Sponsor Narrator
Grainger knows when you're a procurement manager for an office park, you're not managing one building, you're managing all of them. And to stay ahead, you need to see through walls and around corners. Lights about to fail, Filters ready to clog H Vac on its last leg. If you wait until something breaks, you're all already behind. Count on Grainger for quality products, easy reordering, and 247 support. Call 1-800-Grainger. Click grainger.com or just stop by Grainger for the ones who get it done.