Brazil 11
Long time ago – in today’s ever-changing world, long time ago can justifiably be a few weeks ago – Girlahead used to refer to food on Saturdays, but things got out of sync, and the routine was not regularly established. But look above, this was the starter at the final dinner of Embark Immersion Rio 2016. A plate of delicious radish and other healthy items.
Imagine plating 444 of these and serving them two plates at a time from one kitchen to tables for eight. Oh, what a feat, but Fairmont Rio de Janeiro managed to do it superbly.
The hotel’s rather interesting. It is owned by BTG, the largest investment bank in Latin America, chaired by André Esteves, 68, who rescued BTG Pactual from UBS in 2008. Not bad for a young man with a computer science degree. who today is worth, says Forbes, $13.7 billion US. He’s a philanthropist who supports education and environmental causes – he co-founded Inteli, a non-profit university in São Paulo, and he’s very close to Harvard Business School.
Fairmont Rio de Janeiro is mammoth. It only has 375 rooms, but it seems like more because there are vast event spaces on its 13 floors. It’s managed as part of a cluster by Netto Moreira below, who looks after some of BTG’s other properties in Rio, Sofitel, which reopens at the end of this year, an MGallery, and two beach clubs, including the lovely Sofitel Beach Club on Ipanema.
Netto Morreira also warrants interest (see him below in the Fairmont Gold lounge at the breakfast buffet). He’s from Paraná in South Brazil. Early on he was set to follow his father, a doctor, aiming at Medicins Sans Frontieres. However, like so many, he got diverted to hotels during holiday jobs, and he’s been with Accor for a very long time. He’s been in Rio since 2018.
Fairmont Rio de Janeiro is a big hotel that thinks it’s small. In fact it’s enormous. Arrive at the ground floor lobby with its gigantic boutique and sitting area on the left and there are enough elevators not to have to wait too long. There are alternatives for everything. There are several areas to the Technogym, for instance (you don’t have to work out on top of other people). There are two pools to get the sun at different times of the day. There are several places for breakfast. Girlahead actually liked the more humdrum sixth-floor breakfast with its outdoor terraces looking along Copacabana Beach. For more privacy, the fourth-floor Fairmont Gold Lounge below is, at all times, calmly exclusive.
There’s certainly no problem in getting people to work here. The culture helps, the loyalty to Fairmont, and the fact that at the Embark Immersion Gala, Netto Morreira, on stage, called up as many of his team as possible to come and take a bow. That’s what makes a property work. Oh, and by the way, when calling for morning makeup, Girlahead always experienced an immediate response (real person!) and she never had to wait more than five minutes for service. Well done.
