a window into Brasil's chicest hotel
Twenty years ago, Santa Teresa a quiet residential area high on a mountain above Rio de Janeiro, away from the noise of the city below but just a ten-minute drive to the beach. Those lucky enough to live in the community’s narrow, winding streets enjoyed grand colonial houses, beloved for their lush vegetation and sweeping views down to Guanabara Bay and across to Sugarloaf Mountain and Christ the Redeemer.
So when French expat Jean Michel Ruis decided to open the area’s first hotel, Mama Ruisa, having fallen in love with a former aristocrat’s white mansion there after viewing more than fifty properties, he knew he had to maintain the neighbourhood’s peace. “It’s why we don’t have our own restaurant and still don’t open our doors to anyone except our guests,” he says. In fact, the hotel is so private that many of the area’s residents don’t know that behind the property’s doors hides one of the biggest pools in all of Rio, reserved exclusively for guests staying at Mama Ruisa. Still, once he’d been charmed by the morning birdsong, free roaming monkeys and coconut trees in the garden, not to mention the 14-foot ceilings and giant living room, Ruis knew that breaking new ground would be worth it.
Over his last two decades of independent ownership, he’s been proven right time and again. Many regulars now stay for as long as a month – multiple times a year. (For such guests, Mama Ruisa will store their wardrobes for them while they’re away, launder everything before arrival, then put them all neatly back in the cupboards of their rooms on the morning they check in.) And it’s not just regulars who get great service – every new guest is offered the chance to sit down when they arrive and build out the itinerary of their dreams. (Ruis also puts together a document each month detailing the newest exhibitions, restaurants and stores worth visiting in the city for more self-directed travel.)
That said, many guests are perfectly happy hanging out in their rooms, many of which have deep bathtubs, walk-in closets and private verandas and balconies where breakfast is served each morning. They’re decorated with furniture from some of the most prized names in Brasilian design, from Sergio Rodrigues to Oscar Niemeyer, all collected by Ruis from around the country long before the likes of Sotheby’s and Phillips began their annual auctions dedicated to Brazilian furniture masters. The hotel also affords guests the rare chance to live with priceless pieces for a few days.
Given how many guests have furnished their own homes with Brasilian pieces after a stay, Ruis jokes that he feels pressured to keep things fresh for their next visit. He’s constantly adding his latest market finds to the place. One thing that barely changes, however, is the staff. Among Ruis’ eight colleagues, Rafael has been at Mama Ruisa for eighteen years, Thiago for twelve and Valeria for six. All know the property and area inside out.
Santa Teresa has experienced something of a refresh, though. Mama Ruisa is no longer the only hotel, and a handful of excellent restaurants within walking distance have opened up, a boon for the property’s guests. And in the last few years, fashion brands have taken notice, too. “Almost every Brasilian brand has now shot a campaign with us,” Ruis admits. From Frescobal Carioca to Skazi, FARM and Foxton, they’ve all dotted their models amidst the property’s flowing curtains, giant pool and palm trees.
Ruis takes more pride, however, not in the brands that come for a day but in the guests that now come for weeks, proving his long-held belief that between Rio’s museums, beaches, forests and food (Oteque was recently named one of The World’s 50 Best Restaurants and Lasai one of the 50 Best in South America), you can never spend too long in the city. “When I started, people used to stay in Rio for only three days, and the reputation was just Caipirinhas and samba, but most of our guests now come for at least a week,” Ruis says proudly. If you’d like to be one of them, he says a few weeks is normally enough notice (except during Carnival and New Year’s). And given Rio’s 25-30°C average temperature year-round, there really isn’t a bad time to come. “Especially if you’re trying to escape the darkness in Europe,” he jokes. “We’re beautiful every month.”
Louis Cheslaw
A storyteller in various guises, Louis captures the essence of a person, a place, a community, whatever, really, when he writes. But he’s someone that captures our attention no matter what he does. After seven years in New York, Louis is now back in London, though he does get his wheels up from time to time. His ideal trip affords him that sense of smallness that sweeping expanses of nature often give. Think: Hawaii, Wyoming, the Dolomites or the Highlands. When he’s not writing features for gloobles, New York Magazine, Air Mail and beyond—or helping brands tell their own stories through his consulting work—Louis’s likely turning his attention to tennis, football and cooking.
