Travel Like A Star

BEST PLACE FOR SURFING AND SAMBA

WHY IT'S GREAT
Rio tops current hot lists, and there's no better place to soak up the vibe than at the new Fasano. Located in a prime spot overlooking Ipanema beach, the hotel has 82 rooms, ten suites and three mini apartments—all designed by Philippe Starck—and boasts a 1950s bossa-nova ambience.
WHAT TO DO
Sip Rio's best caipirinhas, the national cocktail, at Club Chocolate; spend a day at Posto 10 (the city's chicest beach); or for authentic samba music, head to Carioca a Gema (but never before 11 P.M.).
BRING IT BACK
A teeny Isabel Capeto bikini and matching sarong; a CD by Gilberto Gil; loose Thai pants from the outdoor Ipanema hippie market.
BOOK IT
fasano.com.br

—Melissa Biggs Bradley of indagare.com

additional reporting by Elisabeth Durkin