Mama Ruisa
What's so special
Perched on a hill in the arty Santa Teresa neighbourhood of Rio de Janeiro, Mama Ruisa offers intimacy away from the Brazilian crowds. Past guests have included actor Jude Law and film director Jean-Jacques Annaud. The district boasts "quaintly historic yellow bonde [trams]" and caf-lined squares.
How they rate it
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The owner, Jean Michel Ruis, "has filled his rooms with high-end bric-a-brac gleaned from a lifetime's travelling around the world: drawings by Cocteau [and] antique reliquaries from Bahian churches", says Alex Robinson in The Sunday Times Travel magazine. Each of the seven bedrooms is individually decorated, but all feature antique wood floors and shutters. In the pool "you can watch hummingbirds flit overhead" and from your room "Botafogo Bay shimmers distantly below".
The menu
While technically offering only bed and breakfast, the hotel serves light snacks around the pool. For a full meal you'll have to head out and explore the neighbourhood.
The cost
A double room costs from £202. For more information, visit www.mamaruisa.com, or call 00 55 21 2242 1281.
Inslito Boutique Hotel
What's so special
Inslito literally means extraordinary and this hotel certainly is that. It enjoys a fabulous location clinging to the rocks overlooking Ferradura beach in Buzios. All the rooms face the ocean and there is a spectacular terrace for guests to lounge on while enjoying the view.
How they rate it
This hotel overlooks one of Buzios' 26 beaches. "Buzios is considered the St Tropez of Brazil," says Naomi Tolley in The Independent, and Inslito enjoys a prime spot. The hotel also has two private vessels for hire so you can explore the coastline. The hotel "has been personalised with African, Indian, French and Brazilian artefacts" and there is an excellent spa and restaurant. There are only 12 rooms set in amongst the "lush tropical gardens", meaning "guests practically have the place to themselves", says The New York Times.
The menu
Yemanja, the hotel's rooftop restaurant, serves up Franco-Brazilian fusion food with dishes such as lobster and quinoa risotto, or catch of the day with sweet banana. There are also snacks available in the hotel's Beach Shack Lounge.
The cost
Prices for a double room start from £500, room only. Find out more at www.insolitos.com.br, or call 00 55 22 2623 2172.
The best city apartments
"City apartments come into their own in the winter, when the tourists have gone," says Annabelle Thorpe in The Times. Here are three of the best.
The Folie Mricourt in Paris is a "classic Haussmann-style apartment in the 11th arrondissement", but it has recently had a "quirky upgrade, with kitsch colours and an eclectic mix of furniture". The highlight of the apartment is the balcony, "which has fabulous views across the city rooftops". It costs from £98 a night for two people (Appartement-hotes-folie-mericourt.com).
Piazza Fanti 5 in Rome (pictured) gives guests "a taste for la dolce vita", thanks to its "cream walls, White Company linens and muted browns and greens", which create "a wonderfully peaceful feel". Sleeping six, the apartment is also "very child-friendly" with cots, toys and books available. The apartment costs from £2,174 per week and can be booked through Holiday Lettings (Holidaylettings.co.uk).
For a holiday to Vienna, try the newly-renovated second-floor Viennese Apartment. It "may be housed in a classic 19th-century Viennese house, but it has a highly contemporary feel". The dcor is cream-coloured and there is an open-plan kitchen and lounge. There are "two sleek bedrooms" and it sleeps six, although "this is probably most ideal for child-free couples, who won't be anxious about sticky fingers spoiling the pristine dcor". It costs from £236 for a three night break for up to six people. Contact Owners Direct at Ownersdirect.co.uk/austria.
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