Guides
São Conrado & Rio, from the villa.
How to judge a house with a pool and a view, where to stay in Rio, and everything about São Conrado — the beach, the golf course, the flight ramp, the history, the food — written by the people who run the villa.
Renting the villa
Choosing a villa · 9 min read
A villa in Rio with a pool and a view: what actually matters
Almost every listing in Rio claims a view and a pool. Very few houses have both in a way you'd actually use. Here is how to tell them apart before you pay.
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Where to stay · 8 min read
Where to stay in Rio: São Conrado against Ipanema, Leblon, Copacabana and Barra
Six neighbourhoods, honestly compared — what each is good at, what it costs you in trade, and which one suits a group in a house rather than a couple in a hotel.
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Villa or hotel · 8 min read
A villa or a hotel in Rio: running the numbers for a group of ten
For two people a hotel usually wins. Somewhere around six guests the arithmetic flips, and by ten it isn't close. Here is the comparison done properly, including the parts that favour the hotel.
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Booking · 8 min read
How to book a luxury villa in Rio without getting it wrong
The practical mechanics: who you're paying, what should be in writing, how the deposit works, what staff terms actually mean, and the handful of questions that separate a real house from a nice set of photographs.
Read →São Conrado
Neighbourhood · 7 min read
São Conrado, between Pedra da Gávea and the sea
The quieter corner of Rio's beach coast: gated estates on a green hillside, a calm beach with hang-gliders landing on the sand, and Leblon about fifteen minutes down the road.
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History · 8 min read
How São Conrado came to look like this
A chapel from 1916, a road cut along an abandoned railway, a golf course laid out in the 1920s and a Niemeyer hotel from 1972. Four decisions explain almost everything you see from the terrace.
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Free flight · 8 min read
Hang-gliding and paragliding over São Conrado
The gliders you watch from the terrace launch from a ramp at 520 metres on the ridge behind the house and land on the sand below it. This is how it works, what a tandem flight is actually like, and when the season is good.
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Golf · 7 min read
Gávea Golf & Country Club, the course in the middle of the neighbourhood
The green you see from the hillside is a course laid out in the 1920s between Pedra da Gávea and the Tijuca forest — one of the oldest in Brazil, and the reason São Conrado looks the way it does.
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Eating · 8 min read
Where to eat in and around São Conrado
São Conrado is not a restaurant neighbourhood, and pretending otherwise wastes your week. Here is what is genuinely nearby, what is worth the fifteen-minute drive east, and why most groups end up eating at the house.
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Privacy & security · 7 min read
Privacy and security in São Conrado, without the theatre
Everyone asks about this and most answers are either alarmist or evasive. Here is the practical version: how a gated hillside estate actually works, what sensible behaviour looks like, and how discretion is handled.
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Next door · 7 min read
Joá and Joatinga, the coast immediately next door
West of São Conrado the road climbs onto a viaduct and enters Rio's smallest neighbourhood — a clifftop of private houses with a hidden beach that comes and goes with the tide.
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Beaches · 6 min read
The beaches near the villa
The house sits on the hillside just above São Conrado Beach, so the sand is minutes downhill. Here is what each beach within easy reach is actually like — the calm stretches, the surf ends, and which days are for swimming and which for watching.
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Outdoors · 7 min read
Hiking Pedra da Gávea and Pedra Bonita
Two of Rio's best-known summits rise straight behind the villa. One is an easy morning walk with a glider launch beside it; the other a long, guided climb to a huge view. Here is how to do each.
Read →Rio, practically
When to go · 6 min read
When to visit Rio
Rio is warm the year round, so the question is less about weather than about what you want from the trip. Here is how the four seasons actually feel above São Conrado, and how to pick yours.
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Réveillon & Carnival · 8 min read
New Year and Carnival in Rio, from a house on the hill
Two of the biggest events on earth happen fifteen minutes from this terrace. Both are worth doing properly, and both are much better if you have somewhere quiet to come back to.
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Rio · 7 min read
Things to do in Rio
A practical menu for a stay at the villa: the two big views, easy mornings by the Lagoa, a day on the water, and the slow days at home in between.
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Families · 8 min read
Rio with children, from a house with a pool
Rio is an easier city with children than its reputation suggests, provided the base is right. What works, what to skip, and why the pool ends up doing most of the work.
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Getting here · 6 min read
Getting to the villa and around Rio
The two airports, the coast road in, and the choice between driving yourself or leaning on a driver once you're here. A plain rundown of reaching the villa and getting around Rio.
Read →Reserve direct
Speak to Charlie, book direct.
Rates and live availability are on the Art de Vivre booking page. Message Charlie for a quote, the concierge extras, and to hold your dates — no marketplace fees.