Rosewood Sao Paulo

Cidade Matarazzo, off Avenida Paulista

Cidade Matarazzo is the old Matarazzo maternity hospital and its grounds, built in 1904 for Sao Paulo’s wealthiest industrial family and left empty for decades before a 30,000 square metre restoration turned it into a walled enclave of hotel, restaurants, gardens and the restored 1922 chapel of Santa Luzia. It sits in Bela Vista, a short walk from Avenida Paulista and the MASP museum, with the Jardins shopping streets and Ibirapuera Park a few minutes by car.

Rosewood took the heritage building and added a tower beside it. Jean Nouvel’s Mata Atlantica Tower is a slab of glass and timber planted from top to bottom with native trees, so it reads as a forest standing on end. Philippe Starck did the inside: dark wood, leather, Brazilian marble and an art programme of more than 450 site-specific pieces, from murals to tapestries to the tables you eat at. Nothing in it is generic.

Rooms and suites

The 160 rooms and suites are split between the restored maternity building, where the ceilings are high and the windows tall, and the tower, where every room has a terrace with trees growing past it and views over the city. Interiors are Starck at his warmest: timber floors, leather headboards, freestanding tubs and Brazilian art in every room.

The Signature Suites are the ones to ask for. The heritage suites keep the original proportions of the hospital wards, and the tower suites on the upper floors have wraparound terraces and the best of the skyline. Above the hotel sit 100 private Rosewood residences, which is why the building has the feel of a place people live rather than pass through. Our Travel Designers will tell you which side and which building suits the trip.

Two pools and the Asaya spa

The Emerald Pool is in the gardens at the base of the tower, tiled in forty shades of green and blue under the trees, with its own bar and open to families. The Belavista rooftop pool is adults only, with a bar and a view over Paulista and the whole of the city. Between them they cover a Sunday.

Asaya, Rosewood’s wellness brand, runs the spa in partnership with Guerlain, with a beauty salon alongside and the Crystal Room for guided meditation, Reiki and head massage. It is the place to recover from the flight, since most arrivals from London land in the early morning.

Six places to eat and drink

Le Jardin is the grand cafe in the old hospital, open around the clock, and the room the city comes to for lunch. Blaise is a French and Swiss brasserie with Brazilian ingredients, named for Blaise Cendrars, the poet who was a friend of the Matarazzo circle. Taraz is South American cooking over a wood fire, the serious dinner. Rabo di Galo is the jazz bar, with live music and Brazilian bar food, and the Emerald and Belavista pool bars run through the day.

Sao Paulo is one of the great restaurant cities and the hotel is well placed for the rest of it, from A Casa do Porco to D.O.M. and Mani. Our Travel Designers hold the tables that need holding before you travel.

Why book Rosewood Sao Paulo with Berkeley Travel

Berkeley Travel is a Rosewood Elite agency. Book Rosewood Sao Paulo through us and you have daily breakfast for two, a complimentary room upgrade on arrival, prioritised above every other booking channel, a personalised welcome amenity, and property-specific extras such as a 100 US dollar hotel credit, at no more than the direct rate.

You also have a Travel Designer who knows the city, will position your room, book the restaurants and the spa, and arrange private transfers from Guarulhos and a driver for the days you need one. Sao Paulo is usually the first or last stop on a longer Brazil itinerary, whether Rio and Trancoso or the Amazon and Iguazu, and we build the rest around it.