0:00:03 > 0:00:06MUSIC: "Mas Que Nada" by Sergio Mendes
0:00:09 > 0:00:11Rio de Janeiro,
0:00:11 > 0:00:15South America's most glamorous and exotic city.
0:00:17 > 0:00:21And on the famous Copacabana Beach stands Latin America's
0:00:21 > 0:00:25most historic hotel, the Copacabana Palace.
0:00:25 > 0:00:29In a fast-changing country it's a beacon of old-world opulence.
0:00:29 > 0:00:33I think we feel peaceful, like an oasis.
0:00:33 > 0:00:36Brazil's economy is booming, and the hotel is a magnet
0:00:36 > 0:00:39for the country's new wealthy elite.
0:00:39 > 0:00:42I've travelled all over the world.
0:00:42 > 0:00:45The Copacabana Palace is 90 years old,
0:00:45 > 0:00:47but it smell good.
0:00:47 > 0:00:51The hotel employs more than 600 staff to cater for the guests'
0:00:51 > 0:00:53every whim.
0:00:53 > 0:00:55I have stayed in this room before, yeah,
0:00:55 > 0:00:5917 years ago was the first time I stayed in this room.
0:00:59 > 0:01:03Joel! I'll be there in five minutes! Save the chair for me, please!
0:01:03 > 0:01:04Mwah.
0:01:04 > 0:01:08- See you later.- See you later! - Bye-bye.
0:01:09 > 0:01:14But many of the hotel staff live in Rio's poor and dangerous favelas.
0:01:16 > 0:01:19TRANSLATION:
0:01:25 > 0:01:27With Brazil playing host to the World Cup this summer...
0:01:27 > 0:01:30- You from France, sir?- Oui.- Bonsoir.
0:01:30 > 0:01:34..the Copacabana Palace Hotel is a window onto a country of extremes.
0:01:53 > 0:01:58With 241 rooms, 13 ballrooms and banqueting suites,
0:01:58 > 0:02:02the Copacabana Palace is the most exclusive hotel in Rio de Janeiro.
0:02:04 > 0:02:07And probably the most famous in South America.
0:02:11 > 0:02:13Wow!
0:02:13 > 0:02:15Oh, this is really beautiful.
0:02:18 > 0:02:21Wow, this is phenomenal.
0:02:21 > 0:02:22Look at this...
0:02:22 > 0:02:25For guests like Marco Antonio,
0:02:25 > 0:02:28staying at the Copacabana Palace is the ultimate sign of success.
0:02:28 > 0:02:33I was born very, very poor and I remember when I was a teenager,
0:02:33 > 0:02:36I saw Copacabana Palace at the front -
0:02:36 > 0:02:39"Oh, my good... one day I stay here."
0:02:39 > 0:02:41And I work very, very hard for that.
0:02:41 > 0:02:44I am a very famous hairdresser
0:02:44 > 0:02:48and I work between 12 to 14 hours a day.
0:02:48 > 0:02:50There is no secret, that's why I can come to
0:02:50 > 0:02:53Copacabana Palace every weekend.
0:02:53 > 0:02:55Where do you live? You're not from Rio.
0:02:55 > 0:02:59No, no, no, I live in Sao Paulo, that is probably the richest city
0:02:59 > 0:03:02in Brazil but in Sao Paulo it's very stressful.
0:03:02 > 0:03:06It's the place to get the money, to work.
0:03:06 > 0:03:10It's like New York - we are always running, running for the money.
0:03:10 > 0:03:16Copacabana Palace is very unique because they are friends, I know everybody,
0:03:16 > 0:03:20they know what I like. For example, in Brazil we don't do the eggs,
0:03:20 > 0:03:25we don't like the omelettes, we love fresh fruits and pastries.
0:03:25 > 0:03:28This is my favourite, with vanilla inside.
0:03:28 > 0:03:33It's only on Christmas time, but during the whole year
0:03:33 > 0:03:37they cook it for me at breakfast, everybody knows my name,
0:03:37 > 0:03:43everybody knows... That makes Copacabana Palace very, very unique.
0:03:46 > 0:03:49Mmm! Oh, my goodness! Try!
0:03:49 > 0:03:52- Are you ready, boys? ALL:- Ready!
0:03:52 > 0:03:54Take it...
0:03:54 > 0:03:56MUSIC: "Flying Down To Rio" by Fred Astaire
0:03:56 > 0:03:58# An old sailor in old time
0:03:58 > 0:04:00# Would sing an old song
0:04:00 > 0:04:03# Rolling down to Rio by the sea
0:04:03 > 0:04:06# With a big hello just so they'll know it
0:04:06 > 0:04:08# And stand by there... #
0:04:08 > 0:04:12In 1933, Fred Astaire and Ginger Rogers immortalised
0:04:12 > 0:04:16the Copacabana Palace in their classic film Flying Down To Rio.
0:04:21 > 0:04:24The hotel had opened ten years earlier, marking the centenary
0:04:24 > 0:04:26of Brazil's independence.
0:04:28 > 0:04:32Back then, the Copacabana Beach was an unspoiled stretch of white sand
0:04:32 > 0:04:35and the new hotel was a statement of the country's ambition
0:04:35 > 0:04:38to be a player on the world stage.
0:04:41 > 0:04:44Fred and Ginger's flying visit cemented the hotel's
0:04:44 > 0:04:47reputation as a byword for Latin glamour,
0:04:47 > 0:04:50attracting Hollywood stars and international high rollers
0:04:50 > 0:04:54with the illicit lure of a huge casino and elegant ballrooms.
0:04:59 > 0:05:02It was the era which established Rio as an exotic,
0:05:02 > 0:05:04luxury tourist destination.
0:05:12 > 0:05:15The world's elite have been coming here ever since.
0:05:19 > 0:05:24Anne Phillips has been in the hospitality industry for 60 years
0:05:24 > 0:05:28and has worked at the Copacabana Palace since the early 1990s.
0:05:28 > 0:05:30What have we got here, then?
0:05:30 > 0:05:34I think every hotel have a golden book all around the world.
0:05:34 > 0:05:39These are guestbooks of very VIP guests that have stayed with us
0:05:39 > 0:05:43after all these years. This golden book is worth...
0:05:43 > 0:05:47It was worth 2 million about 20 years ago
0:05:47 > 0:05:50so I don't know what it's worth now.
0:05:50 > 0:05:52Shall we have a look and see what we have...?
0:05:52 > 0:05:57Beautifully, as you can see, written mostly in copperplate -
0:05:57 > 0:06:02people really knew how to write in those days, yeah.
0:06:02 > 0:06:05- Orson Welles I saw there. - Orson Welles, yes.
0:06:05 > 0:06:08There's a story that he threw...
0:06:08 > 0:06:11a desk out the window and everything...
0:06:11 > 0:06:14because he thought his...
0:06:14 > 0:06:18his one love had been unfaithful, or something like that.
0:06:18 > 0:06:22Anyway... But I don't know how you could possibly throw
0:06:22 > 0:06:24a desk out of a window, you know?
0:06:24 > 0:06:27I really don't know that he really did that, you know?
0:06:27 > 0:06:30And Charles and Diana were here
0:06:30 > 0:06:33and they stayed in the Presidential Suite.
0:06:33 > 0:06:37Madonna, I had Madonna.
0:06:37 > 0:06:39Had Madonna for ten days.
0:06:39 > 0:06:43You do wind up working through the night sometimes,
0:06:43 > 0:06:47especially if they are keeping... like Tom Cruise is keeping
0:06:47 > 0:06:50to California times, you wind up giving them
0:06:50 > 0:06:54breakfast about 4 o'clock in the morning, or something like that.
0:06:54 > 0:06:58Francis Ford Coppola. Yeah, he was very nice.
0:06:58 > 0:07:01And this was Robert de Niro.
0:07:01 > 0:07:03I had him down here.
0:07:03 > 0:07:08And he was here when Francis Coppola was here.
0:07:08 > 0:07:12And it was difficult because we didn't know he was coming
0:07:12 > 0:07:17so we had to... manoeuvre a lot, keep him happy,
0:07:17 > 0:07:21till we could get him up to the sixth floor.
0:07:24 > 0:07:28The sixth floor is home to some of the most exclusive
0:07:28 > 0:07:30hotel rooms on Earth.
0:07:31 > 0:07:34- Yes, the penthouse room. - This is the penthouse floor?
0:07:36 > 0:07:40Is this where...the top guests stay, then?
0:07:40 > 0:07:43- The most expensive rooms?- Exactly.
0:07:43 > 0:07:47More recent guests have included Justin Bieber, Miley Cyrus
0:07:47 > 0:07:50and the King of Sweden.
0:07:52 > 0:07:55The price isn't made public,
0:07:55 > 0:07:59but if you need to ask, it probably means you can't afford it.
0:07:59 > 0:08:01Housekeeping...
0:08:01 > 0:08:04- Can I come in?- Yep.
0:08:04 > 0:08:05The room is not...
0:08:05 > 0:08:07We need to finish.
0:08:07 > 0:08:09We need the flowers.
0:08:09 > 0:08:12Head of housekeeping, Graciela Viera,
0:08:12 > 0:08:16is making some last-minute checks before the next VIP arrives.
0:08:29 > 0:08:31It's dirty.
0:08:40 > 0:08:44Doorman Jorge Freitas is the longest-serving employee
0:08:44 > 0:08:49at the Copacabana Palace. He's known to everyone in Rio as Cafu.
0:09:07 > 0:09:10First job and last job.
0:09:10 > 0:09:13He's seen huge changes during his four decades
0:09:13 > 0:09:14working at the hotel.
0:09:29 > 0:09:34From the 1960s to the 1980s, Brazil was ruled by a military dictatorship
0:09:34 > 0:09:36and the economy suffered.
0:09:38 > 0:09:41As Rio became notorious for poverty and violence,
0:09:41 > 0:09:43the tourists stayed away.
0:09:43 > 0:09:46The Copacabana Palace nearly went out of business.
0:09:53 > 0:09:56The hotel was rescued in 1989
0:09:56 > 0:09:59when it was bought by a British-based luxury hotel group.
0:10:03 > 0:10:08Since then, the fortunes of Brazil and the hotel have changed.
0:10:56 > 0:10:58THEY SPEAK PORTUGUESE
0:11:02 > 0:11:06Today, the hotel is run by its first female manager - Andrea Natal.
0:11:07 > 0:11:11From managing the front desk, she's worked her way up to the top job
0:11:11 > 0:11:13in Rio's hotel trade.
0:11:14 > 0:11:16Wow!
0:11:16 > 0:11:18Beautiful!
0:11:18 > 0:11:20Wow!
0:11:20 > 0:11:22CAMERA CLICKS
0:11:22 > 0:11:25We probably need a new one, we need to talk to the supplier because
0:11:25 > 0:11:27you can see that it's not like before.
0:11:29 > 0:11:31CAMERA CLICKS
0:11:31 > 0:11:33There is some glue here.
0:11:33 > 0:11:35- Glue?- Yeah.
0:11:35 > 0:11:37It's kind of yellow.
0:11:39 > 0:11:41It's all about details.
0:11:41 > 0:11:44It's important to you to have everything absolutely...
0:11:44 > 0:11:46- Yes, completely.- ..perfect?
0:11:46 > 0:11:52No. We cannot have any issues about cleanness, never, ever.
0:11:52 > 0:11:56And the maintenance needs to be impeccable as well.
0:11:56 > 0:11:58- What, the manners of people? - The maintenance.- Oh, right.
0:11:58 > 0:12:01- Maintenance.- Maintenance. - Yeah, yeah.
0:12:01 > 0:12:04Like here in the ceiling, we can see some...
0:12:05 > 0:12:07..erm, fingerprints.
0:12:07 > 0:12:12- That's from people that come to see the air conditioning.- OK.
0:12:12 > 0:12:17That's... It's very tough to be housekeeper in this hotel.
0:12:17 > 0:12:20- Is that right, Graciela? - Yes.- It's not easy.
0:12:20 > 0:12:22There's too many things to do.
0:12:36 > 0:12:38- Hello, good morning. - Good morning, how are you?
0:12:38 > 0:12:40- Fine, how are you?- Good.- Good, OK.
0:12:40 > 0:12:44ANDREA: Once you are inside this hotel, I think we feel peaceful.
0:12:45 > 0:12:50We have an open-air bar with a beautiful pool
0:12:50 > 0:12:53and I think we have, in the hotel,
0:12:53 > 0:12:55the most comfortable mattress...
0:12:55 > 0:12:57SHE CHUCKLES
0:12:57 > 0:12:59..ever!
0:12:59 > 0:13:04So, in my life, and that is something that is very, if I can say...
0:13:04 > 0:13:06remarkable.
0:13:06 > 0:13:08Keith Richards...
0:13:08 > 0:13:14- Keith Richards, OK.- Yeah...wife... bought two mattress from us.
0:13:17 > 0:13:20We need to find people that love to serve.
0:13:22 > 0:13:25If I can say that. That love to pamper guests.
0:13:25 > 0:13:29- I think the hotel business is all about that.- Pampering.
0:13:29 > 0:13:35Pampering. It's making sure that the guests are happy, enjoying their stay
0:13:35 > 0:13:37because they are here for that.
0:13:37 > 0:13:39SAXOPHONE PLAYS
0:13:44 > 0:13:48Although the international jet set still flock to the Copacabana Palace,
0:13:48 > 0:13:53nowadays many more of the guests are wealthy Brazilians.
0:14:03 > 0:14:06I love flowers. I remember when I came here for the first...
0:14:06 > 0:14:08HE GASPS
0:14:08 > 0:14:10Oh, my goodness! How they can do it?
0:14:10 > 0:14:13Look at the mix of the different colour.
0:14:13 > 0:14:16Marco is a celebrity hairstylist who's made a fortune through
0:14:16 > 0:14:18his hairdressing salon.
0:14:18 > 0:14:24How a human being has so good taste they can create something like this?
0:14:24 > 0:14:27I mean, crazy, with this flower at Cipriani.
0:14:27 > 0:14:30I always make picture and I post on my Instagram,
0:14:30 > 0:14:34and last time my miniature appear on the popular page.
0:14:36 > 0:14:37Let's take one more.
0:14:39 > 0:14:42- How many followers have you got? - One million.- One million?
0:14:42 > 0:14:46I'm a Twitter king, I have 500,000 on Twitter.
0:14:46 > 0:14:52I have 350,000 on Instagram and 300,000 Facebook,
0:14:52 > 0:14:54so altogether, it's one million.
0:14:56 > 0:14:59Another thing about Copacabana Palace...
0:14:59 > 0:15:01I've travelled all over the world.
0:15:01 > 0:15:05The Copacabana Palace is 90 years old,
0:15:05 > 0:15:07but it smell good.
0:15:07 > 0:15:11I hate hotels, legendary hotels which smell, like, old.
0:15:11 > 0:15:12Listen...
0:15:12 > 0:15:13HE SNIFFS
0:15:13 > 0:15:18Isn't it, oh, extra clean? It smell...verbena.
0:15:18 > 0:15:20Isn't it? You see,
0:15:20 > 0:15:23it's a legendary hotel but...
0:15:23 > 0:15:26so clean you can...you can...
0:15:26 > 0:15:31walk here with white socks... ten hours.
0:15:31 > 0:15:35At the end of the day, you check your sock, it's white.
0:15:35 > 0:15:37It's so clean.
0:15:37 > 0:15:39They renovate it all the time.
0:15:41 > 0:15:44We are going to show you the apartment that I...
0:15:44 > 0:15:46My favourite. I almost live here.
0:15:49 > 0:15:54This is the eighth floor. I love number eight.
0:15:57 > 0:15:58And look here.
0:15:59 > 0:16:04Every time, every time I come here, it's like an apartment.
0:16:04 > 0:16:06It doesn't look a hotel. Isn't it?
0:16:06 > 0:16:10They send me... and they send me champagne.
0:16:12 > 0:16:18When I arrive here, they send me strawberry and champagne.
0:16:18 > 0:16:23I don't drink. I don't drink. Nobody knows but I only... Just a "cheers".
0:16:23 > 0:16:25Look at... You see?
0:16:25 > 0:16:31Always clean, it smell clean. That's why I like it, come on.
0:16:31 > 0:16:34I like that. Decorative but the light.
0:16:34 > 0:16:38I don't like hotel too dark, you know what I mean?
0:16:38 > 0:16:40I like...you see here...
0:16:40 > 0:16:44And let me show you my favourite... It's here.
0:16:46 > 0:16:47Come on.
0:16:49 > 0:16:55Every morning... Look at that, that's my favourite part.
0:16:55 > 0:16:57Is the terrace.
0:16:58 > 0:17:03I never forget, exactly this terrace, when the Pope come here,
0:17:03 > 0:17:05three, four million people...
0:17:06 > 0:17:10OK? Praying, singing... The young.
0:17:11 > 0:17:13The new generation.
0:17:13 > 0:17:15I never forget that.
0:17:15 > 0:17:19Probably the most intense, the best day of my life,
0:17:19 > 0:17:21when the Pope was here.
0:17:21 > 0:17:25And you can see him and you feel the energy that day,
0:17:25 > 0:17:29the new youth, the new young...
0:17:29 > 0:17:31They have faith.
0:17:31 > 0:17:35It seems like before, we lost it.
0:17:36 > 0:17:40But right now everything is new, it's something like a new beginning.
0:17:45 > 0:17:48Joel! I'll be there in five minutes!
0:17:48 > 0:17:51Save the chair for me, please!
0:17:57 > 0:18:01Not surprisingly, all this luxury comes at a price.
0:18:01 > 0:18:03How much is a room like this, to stay in?
0:18:03 > 0:18:07It's something around 1,600 reais.
0:18:07 > 0:18:13- About 800?- Yes.- A night? - A night. With breakfast.
0:18:13 > 0:18:15SHE CHUCKLES
0:18:22 > 0:18:25The increasing number of rich Brazilian guests is
0:18:25 > 0:18:28a product of the country's extraordinary economic boom.
0:18:29 > 0:18:32Fuelled by its huge natural resources,
0:18:32 > 0:18:36Brazil is now the seventh-biggest economy in the world.
0:18:38 > 0:18:41As manager of the Copacabana Palace
0:18:41 > 0:18:44Andrea is a key member of Rio's new elite.
0:18:47 > 0:18:49We are going to Village Mall,
0:18:49 > 0:18:52a luxurious shopping centre
0:18:52 > 0:18:55one hour from the hotel, from here.
0:18:57 > 0:19:01It is the first shopping centre in town where you can find
0:19:01 > 0:19:03Prada, Gucci...
0:19:04 > 0:19:09..Miu Miu, you know, all the luxurious...
0:19:09 > 0:19:11- Big labels.- Big labels.
0:19:11 > 0:19:16Where, today, they are launching a new magazine
0:19:16 > 0:19:20and they invite me to participate with them
0:19:20 > 0:19:22in kind of talk show
0:19:22 > 0:19:28because, for them, Copacabana Palace represents luxury in town.
0:19:28 > 0:19:30Everybody dreams about,
0:19:30 > 0:19:35erm, having a night at the Copacabana Palace.
0:20:07 > 0:20:10Just as it was when it was built in 1923,
0:20:10 > 0:20:15the Copacabana Palace is a symbol of a new, outward-looking Brazil.
0:20:30 > 0:20:33ANDREA:
0:20:59 > 0:21:02In this new Brazil, there are people who can afford to pay
0:21:02 > 0:21:07£14,000 a day to hire a ballroom for a wedding or corporate function.
0:21:10 > 0:21:12This is our famous Nobre Room.
0:21:12 > 0:21:16This is the Nobre Room of Copacabana Palace.
0:21:17 > 0:21:22We have it connected to the Golden Room,
0:21:22 > 0:21:26where we used to have all the big presentations of the famous people
0:21:26 > 0:21:30that stayed here and that presented themselves here.
0:21:30 > 0:21:35And the most interesting is because we have the view of the beach.
0:21:43 > 0:21:45You will see why people love the Blue Room!
0:21:48 > 0:21:52Brazil's economic growth and the promise of the World Cup
0:21:52 > 0:21:55and Olympic Games have led to a boom in the tourist trade.
0:21:55 > 0:22:00Copacabana Beach is now crammed with luxury hotels and apartments.
0:22:01 > 0:22:03But this is still a city of extremes.
0:22:06 > 0:22:12On the hillsides overlooking the seafront are many of Rio's favelas,
0:22:12 > 0:22:15sprawling shanty towns, notorious for poverty,
0:22:15 > 0:22:17violence and drug gangs.
0:22:25 > 0:22:28Rio's two worlds come together on the city's beaches.
0:22:57 > 0:23:02Yeah, look here, OK, no problem. I am the security hotel, OK?
0:23:02 > 0:23:04OK, thank you.
0:23:04 > 0:23:08Joel provides security for the hotel guests who come to the beach.
0:24:07 > 0:24:09SHE SPEAKS IN PORTUGUESE
0:24:09 > 0:24:13The hotel staff come from every strata of Rio society.
0:24:16 > 0:24:20Manager Andrea Natal is in charge of an army of people
0:24:20 > 0:24:24who cook, clean and carry for the wealthy guests.
0:24:24 > 0:24:26SHE SPEAKS IN PORTUGUESE
0:24:34 > 0:24:37- You seem to know everybody. - I know everybody, yes. Almost, yes.
0:24:39 > 0:24:45- How many staff are there?- Er, right now, we have almost 600 employees.
0:24:45 > 0:24:48- 600. Full-time?- Full-time, yes.
0:24:48 > 0:24:50And you know them all, or you've met them all?
0:24:50 > 0:24:52I mean, I know... Yeah.
0:24:52 > 0:24:58If I don't know the name, I try to know the name. But, er... Yeah.
0:24:58 > 0:25:00I like to be with them.
0:25:00 > 0:25:06So, Thursday, we have Chinese food in the employees' cafeteria.
0:25:06 > 0:25:12- Do you eat here?- Yes, I try to come at least once a week.
0:25:12 > 0:25:13Right.
0:25:16 > 0:25:18- Hola!- Hola.
0:25:26 > 0:25:29So, today, as we have every day here,
0:25:29 > 0:25:35we have black beans, as our basic, rice...
0:25:35 > 0:25:39As well as the canteen, there are some more unusual staff perks.
0:25:41 > 0:25:45So, this is a special room for the employees,
0:25:45 > 0:25:51where they can read, they can study and they can relax.
0:25:53 > 0:25:55It's a nice place, nobody...
0:25:55 > 0:25:59will think that I would be here.
0:25:59 > 0:26:04- A place to hide!- Yes, a nice place to hide. And work peaceful.
0:26:11 > 0:26:13Even at the luxury Copacabana Palace,
0:26:13 > 0:26:16pay is low by British standards.
0:26:16 > 0:26:20Many of the hotel workers earn only the industry minimum wage
0:26:20 > 0:26:23and take home less than £300 per month.
0:27:07 > 0:27:11The hospitality industry employs nearly 350,000 people in Rio.
0:27:12 > 0:27:14But working here is a plum job.
0:27:16 > 0:27:20When they show that they are working here at Copacabana Palace,
0:27:20 > 0:27:26in their CV, they immediately get a job in another place.
0:27:26 > 0:27:31There is a lot of offer, work offer, everywhere.
0:27:31 > 0:27:33Lots of work available in Brazil?
0:27:33 > 0:27:37- Yes, especially in Rio, with all these events.- The football and the...
0:27:37 > 0:27:40The football and the Olympics.
0:27:40 > 0:27:45So...yes, I mean, new hotels everywhere.
0:27:45 > 0:27:48Yeah. Does that make it more difficult for you?
0:27:48 > 0:27:51Much more. Much more.
0:27:51 > 0:27:55- What qualities do you look for? - I think it is all about attitude.
0:27:55 > 0:27:59We need to find people that love to serve.
0:28:10 > 0:28:12Many of the staff live in the favelas
0:28:12 > 0:28:14and poorer parts of the city.
0:28:17 > 0:28:20The hotel runs a scheme to train chambermaids
0:28:20 > 0:28:22for work in this rarefied world.
0:28:24 > 0:28:29- Housekeeping!- Housekeeping!- Good morning.- Good morning.- May I clean?
0:28:29 > 0:28:31- May I clean your room? - That's it, good girl.
0:28:31 > 0:28:34Anne Phillips helps teach the women English.
0:28:36 > 0:28:40Come on. Let's go. Good, good.
0:28:43 > 0:28:45One... OK, one...
0:28:45 > 0:28:49One, two, three, four, five...
0:28:49 > 0:28:54- er... - Six.- Six... Er, eight...- No, seven.
0:28:54 > 0:28:58Seven, eight, nine, ten.
0:28:58 > 0:29:00Wey! Fantastic.
0:29:00 > 0:29:04- How long have you been teaching Jessica?- Jessica, three months.
0:29:04 > 0:29:09But I'm here for... I'm not here...
0:29:09 > 0:29:15I'm here for about five to ten minutes, but she listens to her MP3.
0:29:15 > 0:29:18Oh, you've given her an English course on an MP3?
0:29:18 > 0:29:21Yes, they all live miles away,
0:29:21 > 0:29:25they live from an hour-and-a-half to three hours away.
0:29:25 > 0:29:29So, if they can sit down on the bus or sit down on the train,
0:29:29 > 0:29:34then they listen to the MP3s, because I really recorded it very loud.
0:29:34 > 0:29:36And was it always, erm,
0:29:36 > 0:29:39staffed by people who lived a long way away, like Jessica?
0:29:39 > 0:29:43It's always been staff that have lived a long way away
0:29:43 > 0:29:48because the poorer people could never afford to live near Rio.
0:29:48 > 0:29:53At one time, 60% of our staff lived in favelas.
0:29:53 > 0:29:55The favelas, as a whole...
0:29:56 > 0:30:00..are housed by fabulous people. They really...
0:30:00 > 0:30:072% were drug dealers, so, you know, the rest were people like Jessica.
0:30:08 > 0:30:12Has that changed a lot, in Brazil, in the last 21 years?
0:30:12 > 0:30:14Um...
0:30:14 > 0:30:20Yes, because they have modernised the favelas a lot.
0:30:20 > 0:30:24They couldn't do wooden huts any more,
0:30:24 > 0:30:29they have to have brick buildings and they have modernised.
0:30:29 > 0:30:31They've all got televisions.
0:30:31 > 0:30:33They've all got light, they've all got water,
0:30:33 > 0:30:36they've all got sanitation.
0:30:36 > 0:30:37Brazil's on the up?
0:30:37 > 0:30:41Brazil is more than on the up. It is growing.
0:30:41 > 0:30:46It's a second to first world country, my opinion it is
0:30:46 > 0:30:50a first world country, but then I'm a little bit prejudiced,
0:30:50 > 0:30:51that way.
0:30:55 > 0:30:58Here, come on. Let's get the ball. Come on.
0:31:07 > 0:31:08Come on!
0:31:09 > 0:31:14British businessman Benjamin Bowen is one of the hotel's most loyal guests.
0:31:17 > 0:31:20He's currently living in the hotel indefinitely.
0:31:20 > 0:31:21Come on!
0:31:21 > 0:31:24As always, he is accompanied by his loyal companion,
0:31:24 > 0:31:27a bichon frise named Lady Bella.
0:31:27 > 0:31:28Ready?
0:31:34 > 0:31:36That's my exercise for the day.
0:31:38 > 0:31:40Show me the suite, to begin with,
0:31:40 > 0:31:43then we can talk about what you're doing.
0:31:43 > 0:31:47So, this is our living room and we have the most wonderful view,
0:31:47 > 0:31:49when the sun is shining, of course,
0:31:49 > 0:31:54of the Copacabana beach and there is usually lots of bodies on there.
0:31:54 > 0:31:57- Not today, though. - Have you stayed here before?
0:31:57 > 0:31:59I have stayed in this room before, yes.
0:31:59 > 0:32:0217 years ago was the first time I stayed in this room.
0:32:02 > 0:32:06- This is the living room. - That bicycle, presumably, isn't...
0:32:06 > 0:32:08That doesn't come with the room, no.
0:32:08 > 0:32:12That's when I'm trying to do my exercises. Um...
0:32:14 > 0:32:17It doesn't get a lot of use, as you can probably see, but...
0:32:18 > 0:32:20Is this four months' worth of luggage?
0:32:20 > 0:32:22No, the rest is in storage,
0:32:22 > 0:32:26otherwise I think it would look like I'm living in a shop.
0:32:26 > 0:32:27But...
0:32:28 > 0:32:31We are now going into the bedroom.
0:32:32 > 0:32:34Is it true that when you arrived,
0:32:34 > 0:32:38- the hotel had photographs of Bella or something, is that right?- Yeah.
0:32:38 > 0:32:40I don't know where they got it from actually, but suddenly her
0:32:40 > 0:32:42photograph is by the bedside.
0:32:42 > 0:32:45What happens in here? Well...
0:32:46 > 0:32:51This is a few of the clothes I have here, we sort of rotate them.
0:32:51 > 0:32:55And, um, this is sort of where... We are waiting for the other clothes
0:32:55 > 0:32:57to come back from laundry today.
0:32:57 > 0:33:01Oh, and then I have my secret supply, of course - you can never leave
0:33:01 > 0:33:05home without your Yorkshire tea, just in case you start to miss home.
0:33:05 > 0:33:08But, actually, it hasn't had much action this time round.
0:33:08 > 0:33:13- That's Bella's eau de parfum. - Your dog has eau de parfum?- Yeah.
0:33:14 > 0:33:16- So, it's called Oh My Dog.- Oh My Dog?
0:33:16 > 0:33:19HE CHUCKLES
0:33:19 > 0:33:21- Is that something you brought with you?- Yeah!
0:33:23 > 0:33:25You know, this was really smart.
0:33:27 > 0:33:30They had her own little basket
0:33:30 > 0:33:35and they've got her own shampoo
0:33:35 > 0:33:39and conditioner, specially for - not only dog shampoo
0:33:39 > 0:33:41but specially for white dogs.
0:33:41 > 0:33:46- What, the hotel done this?- Yeah. - At your request?- No. No, no, no.
0:33:46 > 0:33:47This was already...
0:33:47 > 0:33:51And they did kindly have a cologne for her,
0:33:51 > 0:33:54but, as you can see, it hasn't been much used
0:33:54 > 0:33:59but Oh My Dog takes some beating, so that remains in situ.
0:33:59 > 0:34:01You've stayed in some of the most famous hotels
0:34:01 > 0:34:05in the world, The Commonwealth and The Four Seasons.
0:34:05 > 0:34:08- This one is right up there, isn't it?- Oh, God, yeah.
0:34:08 > 0:34:12What makes it so special, this hotel, for you,
0:34:12 > 0:34:16that you'd want to come here for several months?
0:34:16 > 0:34:18I think, erm...
0:34:20 > 0:34:23You've got to make someone feel really comfortable and at home,
0:34:23 > 0:34:26and that would be...
0:34:26 > 0:34:28One would automatically assume that that happens
0:34:28 > 0:34:32but that is actually very hard to do in reality.
0:34:32 > 0:34:37You've got to get to know somebody and what they like,
0:34:37 > 0:34:40what they don't like, the staff and...
0:34:40 > 0:34:43And to make someone really comfortable, I mean,
0:34:43 > 0:34:47the other night it was raining, I was tired...and I wanted soup.
0:34:47 > 0:34:50And I didn't want to answer the door, I wanted to lay in bed
0:34:50 > 0:34:53and watch a DVD and that's exactly what I did.
0:34:53 > 0:34:56And that's comfort.
0:34:56 > 0:34:59Is what you are buying here not just the chrysanthemums
0:34:59 > 0:35:04and the facilities and the high-class fixtures
0:35:04 > 0:35:09and fittings, are you buying a whole kind of world of...a community?
0:35:10 > 0:35:13You're part of...
0:35:13 > 0:35:15You become part of the room.
0:35:15 > 0:35:18The suite. You are the room.
0:35:18 > 0:35:22You step out of an elevator, you end up knowing every single doorman,
0:35:22 > 0:35:25every single security guard. You know their shift patterns.
0:35:25 > 0:35:28You know who's off on what days. Erm...
0:35:28 > 0:35:32You become sort of really one of them, in a way,
0:35:32 > 0:35:36but except you're obviously dialling zero and they're not.
0:35:37 > 0:35:43They're not dialling zero but it's comfort, really.
0:35:56 > 0:35:59INDISTINCT CONVERSATION
0:36:00 > 0:36:02Bye-bye.
0:36:02 > 0:36:06- See you later.- See you later! Have a nice day.
0:36:29 > 0:36:32Below stairs, Head of Housekeeping Graziela Vieira
0:36:32 > 0:36:34is preparing her army of maids for the day ahead.
0:37:58 > 0:38:02Vivianne Eloy is one of the 60 maids who maintain the hotel's
0:38:02 > 0:38:03pristine rooms.
0:38:05 > 0:38:07She has worked here for two years.
0:40:32 > 0:40:35The neighbourhood where Vivienne lives was once the most
0:40:35 > 0:40:40notorious favela in the whole city ruled by violent druglords.
0:40:40 > 0:40:43Following the announcement that Brazil was to host the World Cup,
0:40:43 > 0:40:46the government launched a series of operations
0:40:46 > 0:40:48to clean up Rocinha and some of the other favelas.
0:40:49 > 0:40:52This area has now officially been pacified
0:40:52 > 0:40:55and brought under police control.
0:41:11 > 0:41:13More than 70,000 people live in this favela.
0:41:15 > 0:41:17Open sewers run under the narrow alleyways.
0:41:19 > 0:41:21Despite Brazil's economic growth,
0:41:21 > 0:41:25one in five of the population still live below the poverty line.
0:41:38 > 0:41:39Away from the main roads,
0:41:39 > 0:41:42crime and violence is still a problem in the favela.
0:41:42 > 0:41:44Recent gun battles between police
0:41:44 > 0:41:47and drug dealers have terrified the local residents.
0:41:50 > 0:41:55Vivienne is a single mum who lives with her three children in one room.
0:44:01 > 0:44:05In recent years, life has improved for Brazil's urban poor.
0:44:05 > 0:44:08There is now electricity and running water in most favelas.
0:44:08 > 0:44:12But Vivienne still has to get by on just under £70 a week.
0:45:14 > 0:45:17The wealth that Vivienne sees every day at work
0:45:17 > 0:45:20emphasises the stark contrasts of the new Brazil.
0:46:08 > 0:46:11With more billionaires than Britain or France, Brazil has one
0:46:11 > 0:46:17of the biggest gaps between rich and poor of any major country on earth.
0:46:17 > 0:46:20These inequalities have brought widespread social unrest.
0:46:24 > 0:46:26In recent months, there have been protests about government
0:46:26 > 0:46:30corruption and the price of transport and education.
0:46:33 > 0:46:35But there is little sign of this among the guests
0:46:35 > 0:46:38of the Copacabana Palace.
0:46:38 > 0:46:41The hotel is adapting its old world opulence for the new, wealthy
0:46:41 > 0:46:43Brazilian clientele.
0:46:45 > 0:46:48The latest addition is a new Asian restaurant.
0:46:51 > 0:46:55In charge of the project is Japanese Brazilian Felipe Ishihama.
0:46:58 > 0:47:00The Asian restaurant doesn't have a name yet
0:47:00 > 0:47:05so we are thinking about it to create a very nice name, very strong names.
0:47:05 > 0:47:12This is the amazing bar with our sushi men which will be placed just right here.
0:47:12 > 0:47:15We stole him... He stole them!
0:47:16 > 0:47:18Been poaching people, have you?
0:47:18 > 0:47:23Yeah, we took them from Sao Paulo from one of the best
0:47:23 > 0:47:26restaurants in Sao Paulo, but originally they are from Japan.
0:47:28 > 0:47:32So, for me, this is a privilege.
0:47:32 > 0:47:36This is one of the biggest bars in the city
0:47:36 > 0:47:40and to manage this bar, for me, I am very honoured
0:47:40 > 0:47:46because it is a privilege because it will be the best.
0:47:46 > 0:47:50I know my guests, I have been working in Rio for two years already
0:47:50 > 0:47:54so my public was all very young, wealthy,
0:47:54 > 0:47:59part of the elite of the city so speaking with them,
0:47:59 > 0:48:04they are all excited for the opening of this restaurant
0:48:04 > 0:48:08because there doesn't have in the city a restaurant like this
0:48:08 > 0:48:10here in Rio.
0:48:10 > 0:48:12So, this is our decoration.
0:48:12 > 0:48:15It's not the original one yet
0:48:15 > 0:48:19but it will be the same but the original, bigger.
0:48:19 > 0:48:25It was very expensive, I heard! She has a very nice...
0:48:25 > 0:48:28I think spirit inside of her.
0:48:28 > 0:48:32And if you get closer to her, you can see a tiger.
0:48:32 > 0:48:35Because we believe, in Asian culture, that all women
0:48:35 > 0:48:39and every person, there's a tiger inside of you.
0:48:39 > 0:48:43Look, I will show you where is the tiger, OK?
0:48:43 > 0:48:45The tiger is just right here.
0:48:45 > 0:48:48You can see the nose and these eyes here, look.
0:48:57 > 0:49:00As a restaurant manager, Felipe isn't one of Rio's super rich.
0:49:03 > 0:49:07He is part of a growing middle class that is changing the face of Brazil.
0:49:09 > 0:49:11Instead of a swanky apartment,
0:49:11 > 0:49:15he has chosen to live on the edge of one of Rio's favelas.
0:49:16 > 0:49:18Ten years ago there was guns, there were shootings,
0:49:18 > 0:49:23it was very dangerous here. At that time, I couldn't...
0:49:23 > 0:49:25I would not risk myself.
0:49:25 > 0:49:30But nowadays, wow, it is a different kind of lifestyle.
0:49:30 > 0:49:33Many of my friends, they tell me,
0:49:33 > 0:49:37"Felipe, why are you living there? You are crazy."
0:49:37 > 0:49:43I would not live here if I wouldn't feel respected, if I wouldn't feel safe.
0:49:43 > 0:49:47Around 40 of the city's estimated 600 favelas have been brought
0:49:47 > 0:49:49under control by police.
0:49:50 > 0:49:54In this neighbourhood, the effect has been dramatic.
0:49:54 > 0:49:56The area is now being gentrified.
0:49:56 > 0:50:01The levels of society are becoming almost the same.
0:50:01 > 0:50:05There is no more, like, these divisions that we had ten years ago
0:50:05 > 0:50:09of the real rich and the very poor class.
0:50:09 > 0:50:11Before, the middle class didn't exist too much.
0:50:11 > 0:50:13It was very rich or very poor.
0:50:13 > 0:50:16For example, here in the favela,
0:50:16 > 0:50:20a lot of people that live here, it's not who are poor people,
0:50:20 > 0:50:26because even the woman who I rent the house from, my landlord,
0:50:26 > 0:50:30her sons are working for big companies and they just live here.
0:50:38 > 0:50:43I feel, and it is true, that you have less poverty
0:50:43 > 0:50:47and you have much more middle class now.
0:50:47 > 0:50:52As I am working in this hotel for almost 20 years, I remember
0:50:52 > 0:50:59years ago that people struggled to buy a fridge, to buy a TV.
0:50:59 > 0:51:02Today everybody in the hotel has a mobile phone.
0:51:04 > 0:51:09So life for the Brazilians is easier, much easier than years ago.
0:51:09 > 0:51:16It makes me happy and, again, we can see that poverty is low.
0:51:16 > 0:51:22People are having the possibility to organise their lives much
0:51:22 > 0:51:23better than years ago.
0:51:23 > 0:51:28Every month, Andrea organises a breakfast to reward her staff.
0:52:11 > 0:52:14THEY LAUGH
0:52:16 > 0:52:19With the new Asian restaurant opening soon,
0:52:19 > 0:52:21manager Felipe is on a recruitment drive.
0:52:39 > 0:52:42Tell me an experience, for example,
0:52:42 > 0:52:47that you said about anticipating the needs and wants of our guests.
0:52:47 > 0:52:51There was a guest and you couldn't make him happy, make them
0:52:51 > 0:52:55happy just on anticipating their service.
0:52:55 > 0:52:56Yes.
0:52:56 > 0:53:02So, when I was working at another hotel, you know, there was
0:53:02 > 0:53:10a woman, a polite woman, and I know her name.
0:53:10 > 0:53:15And I know what her favourite food and her favourite drink,
0:53:15 > 0:53:19- and when I saw her... - Her passing around?
0:53:19 > 0:53:22Her passing around me.
0:53:22 > 0:53:29I told her, "Please, have a seat. Let me assist you.
0:53:29 > 0:53:32"It is a pleasure to serve you again."
0:53:32 > 0:53:35Guests nowadays don't need to order any more.
0:53:35 > 0:53:39They need to be remembered, they want to be valuable,
0:53:39 > 0:53:42they want to feel valuable.
0:53:42 > 0:53:46- They want to feel... - Important.- ..special, important.
0:53:46 > 0:53:47Because they are.
0:53:47 > 0:53:52They are the ones who make our dream come true, of working
0:53:52 > 0:53:59in a luxury place, in a luxury hotel, in a five-star hotel, pay our bills.
0:53:59 > 0:54:03So they are the ones who help us.
0:54:03 > 0:54:05LIFT PINGS
0:54:11 > 0:54:14I have a very special guest in house.
0:54:14 > 0:54:18So he is very regular, very important for us, as all the others.
0:54:18 > 0:54:21It is his birthday today,
0:54:21 > 0:54:25we are going to have a special party for him.
0:54:34 > 0:54:39Everybody is coming around five o'clock, 5:30. Of course I am here.
0:54:39 > 0:54:42I am looking after everything.
0:54:42 > 0:54:44SHE LAUGHS
0:54:45 > 0:54:50Really? Wishing you a happy birthday? Oh, my God.
0:54:54 > 0:54:57He knows we are preparing something special for him.
0:54:59 > 0:55:03- But he doesn't know who is invited. - Who is invited?
0:55:03 > 0:55:07We have some other guests that he met this weekend,
0:55:07 > 0:55:09some others he met before.
0:55:09 > 0:55:13Some people from our staff as well.
0:55:25 > 0:55:27Raining.
0:55:27 > 0:55:29- A lovely day in Rio!- Yeah!
0:55:29 > 0:55:32THUNDER ROLLS
0:55:36 > 0:55:40Hello. Happy birthday.
0:55:41 > 0:55:44APPLAUSE
0:55:50 > 0:55:53- Perfect. Thank you.- This is nice!
0:55:55 > 0:55:56Thank you so much.
0:55:56 > 0:56:00SHE SPEAKS PORTUGUESE
0:56:02 > 0:56:06THEY SING "HAPPY BIRTHDAY TO YOU" IN PORTUGUESE
0:56:21 > 0:56:23CHEERING
0:56:34 > 0:56:39It is the opening night of the hotel's new Asian restaurant.
0:56:54 > 0:56:56The restaurant is the latest
0:56:56 > 0:56:59chapter in the story of the Copacabana Palace,
0:56:59 > 0:57:01as it adapts to Brazil's new reality.
0:57:03 > 0:57:05The money is in the new hands now.
0:57:05 > 0:57:08So we have new people, new guests, thank God,
0:57:08 > 0:57:11young people coming to the hotel.
0:57:14 > 0:57:17People that are just discovering the hotel.
0:57:17 > 0:57:18People that want to be here
0:57:18 > 0:57:21because they know that someone famous was here.
0:57:23 > 0:57:25Or they want to come here
0:57:25 > 0:57:29because they are curious about what happened in this hotel.
0:57:29 > 0:57:33We are the only hotel that has a history to tell.
0:57:35 > 0:57:40And the history of this grand old hotel has mirrored the highs
0:57:40 > 0:57:44and lows of the whole country's fortunes.
0:57:47 > 0:57:51The strategy is to be always the best hotel in Brazil.
0:57:53 > 0:57:56That is what we want to be, that is
0:57:56 > 0:57:59the position we want to keep for ever, of course.
0:57:59 > 0:58:03MUSIC: "Mas Que Nada" by Sergio Mendes feat. The Black Eyed Peas