| Is there a better room with a view than the sixth-floor penthouse suite at the Copacabana Palace (00 55 21 2548 7070; www.copacabanapalace.com.br)? The panorama from its balcony takes in the Sugar Loaf Mountain at one end of the beach and the looming peaks of the Arpoador peninsula at the other; and straight ahead the dark-jade Atlantic reflects the twinkling lights of Niteroi on the far side of Guanabara Bay. There's not much faulting the hotel either. A beachfront grande dame covered in white stucco that looks like a wedding cake, it is the work of the architect who designed the Carlton in Cannes and the Negresco in Nice, with a Cipriani restaurant.
A penthouse suite with an ocean view costs US$1,960, but the outlook from the classic beach-view rooms (US$500) is terrific, too.
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