Windsor Barra Hotel

"Much of the 2016 Summer Olympic Games were held not at Rio’s Copacabana or Ipanema beaches, but in Barra da Tijuca, a residential neighborhood with glamorous shopping malls and beachfront condos. This Miami-esque area is where you’ll find the Windsor Barra, which opens right onto a white-sand beach with fewer tourists than its more famous cousins to the east. Rooms here are done up in neutral beiges and blonde wood and many feature balconies, while spacious bathrooms include L’Occitaine toiletries and, in some, whirlpool tubs. The hotel serves a diverse breakfast spread in its downstairs restaurant and, every Saturday, makes a feast of feijoada (Brazil’s national stew) for around $25 per person."