50 years of the Hotel Arpoador: last stop on our journey through time
If you’ve been following our series of posts here, you’ll know that 2024 was a special year and one of many celebrations for the Hotel Arpoador. In the previous blog posts, we took a real trip back in time, exploring memories that have marked the hotel throughout its 50 years of existence.
We went through interviews and touching stories, such as Tita’s, who shared with us some emotional memories with her family and curiosities that have made the Arpoador a Carioca icon. Wendy Andrade, with her photographic eye, showed us how Arpoador continues to inspire art. Ira Etz told us about the place’s role as a meeting point for people from all over the world and its importance as a stage for change over the years. And Daniel Friedmann introduced us to Arpoador as the birthplace of surfing, highlighting its unique and enchanting characteristics.
Now that we’ve reached the last stop on our wonderful journey through time, we’ll conclude by talking about another icon of Rio, and especially of Arpoador.
In 1964 Thereza Eugenia arrived in Rio de Janeiro attracted by the fame of the Wonderful City. She soon discovered that the real charm lay in Ipanema and Arpoador, with its mountains, sunsets and the iconic Blue Arch.
The photographer tells us about her first photograph for the cover of a book. Meeting Ruy Castro one of the times she was taking photos of Arpoador, the Brazilian journalist and biographer shared with Thereza his desire to have a photo of the sunset from Arpoador Beach in the book he was writing about Rio de Janeiro – Carnaval no Fogo.
Also known as the ‘photographer of the superstars’, Eugenia captured the most iconic MPB artists. In the 1970s, she recorded the anthological show ‘Fa-tal – Gal a todo vapor’ and took the cover photo for Gal’s album ‘Cantar’. She also took some of the most memorable photos of Caetano, Gilberto Gil, Rita Lee, Alcione, Chico Buarque, Zezé Motta, Angela Ro Ro, Raul Seixas and many others, always with an unpretentious air, without an artist’s pose.
During our interview with Thereza, she mentioned Gal’s Dunes, a stretch of Ipanema Beach that has long been part of the history of the city of Rio and has been declared Intangible Cultural Heritage.
The place got its nickname because, in the 1970s, it became a cultural meeting point for artists, intellectuals, surfers and, among them, the singer Gal Costa.
It was there that Thereza Eugenia experienced unique and memorable moments alongside her artist and intellectual friends, who met there and turned the place into a cultural reference in Rio.
That’s how Thereza describes Arpoador: a great meeting place for iconic characters who have filled it with incredible stories. And, of course, it has a unique view that mixes mountain and sea and a stunning sunset.
There are really many reasons to celebrate the 50th anniversary of the iconic Hotel Arpoador, which, with its privileged location, has been able to witness and be part of so many stories, cultural changes and wonderful encounters.
The year 2024 ended with celebrations, events and unique experiences! And we are ready for a 2025 full of unique and memorable moments alongside people as special as our clients, guests, partners and collaborators.
