JANEIRO | Rio de Janeiro, Brazil
Brazilian Modernism, Barefoot Sophistication, and Front-Row Seats to Leblon Beach
Why DNA Hotels Loves It
● Created by Oskar Metsavaht, founder of Brazilian fashion label Osklen, with the same combination of modernism, sensuality, and understated Brazilian cool.
● All 53 rooms face the Atlantic, allowing ocean, mountains, and Rio’s extraordinary light to become the most important elements of the interior design.
● Freijó wood, natural stone, raffia, Brazilian art, and restrained architecture create luxury that feels unmistakably local rather than internationally generic.
Rio Without the Clichés
Rio knows how to put on a show. JANEIRO Hotel doesn’t need to. Facing the beach in Leblon, the city’s elegant residential enclave beyond Ipanema, this 53-room hotel presents a quieter version of Rio—one built around architecture, natural materials, ocean light, and the particular kind of effortless sophistication Brazilians seem to do better than almost anyone. The man behind it is Oskar Metsavaht, founder of Osklen. And if you know his fashion, the hotel immediately makes sense. It’s relaxed but precise, sensual without being showy, and luxurious without needing to constantly remind you.
Brazilian Modernism Goes Barefoot
Brazil has one of the world’s great modernist traditions, and JANEIRO draws on that legacy without turning the hotel into an architectural history lesson. Strong horizontal lines and expansive glazing give the building clarity, while travertine, warm freijó timber, raffia, stone, and tactile fabrics soften everything inside. It’s minimalism with Brazilian body language. Natural materials matter, but so does art. Works by Ana Metsavaht, Oskar’s sister, add another personal layer to interiors that already feel more like a creative home than a conventional five-star hotel. Nothing is overfilled. In Rio, leaving room for light is a smart design decision.
53 Rooms, 53 Atlantic Views
Every guest room faces the ocean. That fact alone explains much of the interior design. With Leblon Beach stretching outside the windows and the mountains rising beyond it, adding visual noise would be pointless. Instead, warm timber, pale textiles, soft lighting, and clean-lined furniture create calm spaces that allow the view to dominate. Morning changes the room. So does a tropical storm. And by late afternoon, the lowering sun can completely alter its mood again. This is a hotel where nature effectively redecorates several times a day.
A Hotel That Belongs to Leblon
The best city hotels attract people who already live in the city. JANEIRO understands that. Its ground-floor spaces flow easily between restaurant, lounge, and neighbourhood meeting place, with contemporary Brazilian food, natural wines, seafood, vegetables, books, ceramics, and the relaxed polish that defines modern Leblon. Locals don’t feel like intruders and hotel guests don’t feel trapped inside a hospitality bubble. Step outside and the beach is there. That permeability between hotel, neighbourhood, and ocean is central to why JANEIRO feels so convincing.
Up on the Roof
Then there’s the rooftop. The pool and terrace look across the Atlantic towards Rio’s unmistakable mountain landscape, including the twin peaks of Dois Irmãos. It’s spectacular, but JANEIRO doesn’t turn it into a spectacle. The mood is more sunset drink than rooftop party: water, warm air, cocktails, mountains, and the changing colour of the sky. As the sun disappears behind the peaks, people along the beach traditionally applaud. From up here, you understand why.
Eco-Luxury Before It Became a Hashtag
Metsavaht has explored the relationship between design, fashion, environmental responsibility, and what he calls sustainable luxury for years. At JANEIRO, that thinking is present without transforming the hotel into an eco-showroom. The emphasis on natural materials, considered sourcing, longevity, and connection with the surrounding environment feels integrated into the aesthetic rather than added as a sustainability narrative afterwards. It’s another reason the hotel feels coherent. The architecture, fashion sensibility, materials, location, and environmental thinking are all speaking roughly the same language.
Why It Works
JANEIRO captures Rio by resisting the temptation to exaggerate it. There are no tropical clichés required when Leblon Beach, Dois Irmãos, Brazilian modernism, and the Atlantic are already outside the window. Oskar Metsavaht’s achievement is knowing when to design and when to leave space for the city to do the work. The result is sensual, sophisticated, distinctly Brazilian, and remarkably calm—a hotel that doesn’t simply overlook one of Rio’s best beaches, but seems to move at exactly the same rhythm.
