Rio de Janeiro’s Best Beach Resorts, From Copacabana to the Costa Verde

No one does urban beaches quite like Rio de Janeiro, where hotels are neatly located between the leafy streets of a major metropolis and the ocean just a few steps away. Yet the Rio coastline extends far beyond the city’s most touristic shores. Across the state, you’ll find everything from design-forward luxury resorts to laid-back beachfront stays that invite a slower, more nature-driven experience of Rio. Let’s explore the best of them.

Why we love it: Designed by Oscar Niemeyer with gardens by Roberto Burle Marx, Hotel Nacional is one of Rio’s most iconic architectural landmarks. It’s a beachfront stay that blends design, sweeping ocean views, and a culture-rich roster of amenities.

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The curved, Niemeyer-designed building sits on São Conrado beach, one of the more beautiful and less crowded stretches of sand in Rio. The beach is also the landing base for hang gliders jumping off nearby mountain peaks. Here you get the best view of the massive Pedra da Gavea, which rises sharply behind the shoreline and gives each room a sight to behold. The atmosphere glamorously leans into art and design, the highlight being the Burle Marx gardens.

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Why we love it: One of the only true beachfront resorts in Rio, the Sheraton Grand Rio Hotel & Resort sits directly on the sand of the more secluded Vidigal Beach.

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The Sheraton is one of the few places in Rio where you can walk straight from the hotel onto a quieter stretch of sand at Vidigal Beach. Most rooms feature private balconies with ocean views, reinforcing the feeling of being perched over the ocean. Aside from its stellar location, the property features multiple on-site restaurants, including French fine dining at L’Etoile and casual Brazilian and Italian options, as well as a large leisure area with oceanfront pools.

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Why we love it: A front-row stay on Copacabana with a wonderful rooftop scene, complete with a pool, panoramic views, and a lively social atmosphere.

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Pestana Rio Atlântica is all about location and that high-beat Brazilian energy. Mornings start with sunrise views from ocean-facing rooms and afternoons lead up to the rooftop pool deck. The atmosphere is lively and unmistakably carioca, and it’s perfectly located base for travelers who want to be in the center of it all.

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Why we love it: Set on a quieter end of the beach at Posto 6, the Fairmont Rio de Janeiro Copacabana offers one of the best views in the city, from the entire curved shore of Copacabana all the way to Niterói on the other side of the bay—a view best experienced from its pool deck open to the public.

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At the edge of Copacabana near the famous fort, the Fairmont delivers one of the best views in Rio. Many of the rooms feature ocean-facing balconies, while on-site dining spans everything from seafood to craft cocktails and feet-in-the-sand meals at a beach bar across the street.

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Why we love it: Set in Barra da Tijuca, this beachfront resort offers a calmer, less touristy alternative to Rio’s South Zone, with wide-open beaches, lagoon views, and great dining.

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Located between the ocean and the Marapendi Lagoon in Barra da Tijuca, the Grand Hyatt Rio de Janeiro offers a more spacious, laidback experience of Rio, where beach days feel calmer and less crowded than Copacabana. The property is family-friendly and features fantastic on-site dining, but the true highlight is its proximity to the ocean, just steps from the sand.

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Why we love it: The location. Búzios, a former fishing village turned one of Brazil’s most charming beach destinations, is a peninsula full of diverse beaches. Zendaya Resort Beach Sport & Spa offers a more private, wellness-driven take on the classic escape, blending sports, spa treatments, and sustainability.

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Set in Búzios, Zendaya blends high-end wellness with an active, outdoors-driven lifestyle, offering everything from water sports to spa rituals. The experience is marked by thoughtfully designed suites and villas and a clear commitment to sustainability, with initiatives like solar energy and water recycling woven into the stay.

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Why we love it: Set in a lush region known as the Costa Verde (“Green Coast”), the Fasano Angra dos Reis pairs understated luxury with one of Brazil’s most spectacular coastal landscapes — best explored by boat through its island-dotted bay.

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The Fasano is located in Angra dos Reis, about 2.5 to 3 hours from the city of Rio de Janeiro, and that’s exactly the draw. The hotel acts as a gateway to one of the state’s most untouched coastal regions, where dense Atlantic Forest meets calm, turquoise waters. Like its exceptionally well-designed sister property on Ipanema Beach, this Fasano blends into the landscape without trying too hard, while quietly delivering its signature level of excellent service.

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Why we love it: A rare combination of beachfront resort and wildlife reserve, Hotel Portobello Resort & Safari offers a one-of-a-kind stay where safari experiences happen right on the palm-lined shores of the Green Coast.

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Set on a vast estate in the Costa Verde, the Portobello uniquely offers all of the amenities of a beach resort plus immersive nature experiences — from 4×4 safaris through a wildlife reserve and on-site natural pools and waterfalls to horseback rides and hikes in the Atlantic Forest.

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