Orient-Express Hotels Ltd has announced that it has reached agreements over permits for the reconstruction and refurbishment of the famed “casino” rooms in the Copacabana Palace Hotel in Rio de Janeiro. The project will cost US$4 million and will take seven months to complete, adding over 11,000 sq ft of function space.
Philip Carruthers, General Manager of the Copacabana Palace said, “We have worked for two years with the listed building authorities in Rio to conclude a plan that allows us to reopen this area which has been closed for many years. With the designs now agreed we are moving ahead to restore these magnificent rooms.”
The interior design of the rooms will sympathetically echo their individuality and heritage. The columned Palm Room will have a tropical atmosphere, and in the Crystal Room, light will be reflected in cascading crystal chandeliers.
The Copacabana Casino had its heyday from the mid-1930s until a law was passed outlawing gambling in April 1946. Millions were won and lost while a cast of Rio’s most exuberant, elegant and glamorous characters played the tables to a backdrop of two orchestras and 12 chorus girls. It was here in 1939 that American impresario Lee Schubert first watched a show starring an as yet undiscovered Carmen Miranda and the hotel played host to Hollywood luminaries such as Errol Flynn, Bing Crosby and Douglas Fairbanks Jr. After the tables were removed, the party continued with dances lead by some of the world’s best imported bands, such as Simon Boutman and his band, who played foxtrots in the rooms every evening for over 12 years.
The new function rooms will increase the conference and banqueting space at the hotel by over 60%. The works should not create any significant disruption as the rooms are located in an isolated area toward the rear of the property and should be complete by March 2006.
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Notes to editors:
Orient-Express Hotels, Trains and Cruises (www.orient-express.com) is a hotel and leisure company providing luxury travel experiences for discerning travellers in areas of outstanding cultural, historic or recreational interest. Founded in 1976 when the company acquired Hotel Cipriani in Venice, Orient-Express owns or has investments in 49 businesses: 38 highly individual hotels, three restaurants, six tourist trains and two river cruise operations, located in 22 countries worldwide. The company believes that discerning travellers will choose a famous individual property in preference to a chain brand, so none of its businesses is called Orient-Express except the fabled Venice Simplon-Orient-Express luxury train which operates through Europe, linking London, Paris and Venice. Orient-Express chooses to own or part-own its businesses, believing equity returns are greater than management fee income alone and continues to seek out unique properties with expansion potential and introduce new experiences, restoring romance, glamour and style to international travel.
Downloadable high resolution photography of the Copacabana Palace is available at www.orient-expressimages.com.
For a copy of the new Conferences, Meetings & Incentives directory, please call Orient-Express Hotels, Trains & Cruises sales team on 020 7805 5028 or email oesales.uk@orient-express.com
For further press information please contact:
Victoria Legg
Public Relations Manager
Tel: (0207) 805 5067 Fax: (0207) 805 5938 Email: vicky.legg@orient-express.com Internet: www.orient-express.com
