A second Emiliano Hotel is opening next month in Rio de Janeiro, with a location on Copacabana Beach and a focus on wellness.

The hotel joins the original Emiliano in Sao Paulo, and will include 90 bedrooms, including two choices of spa suites. An 11th-floor Santapele Spa promotes rebalancing and features treatments focused on three pillars of relaxing, detoxifying and invigorating.

The 500sqm (5,382sq ft) spa includes four treatment rooms, two saunas, an experience shower, ice fountain and 24-hour, Technogym-equipped fitness centre overlooking the sea.

The hotel has also partnered with yoga teachers, personal trainers, meditation instructors and beauty experts to teach classes not only at the fitness centre, but also in-room or at the beach.

With a philosophy to “provide a balanced and healthy life as an extension of the guest’s home,” Santapele Spa also offers breathing classes to assist with sleep quality, as well as self-expression classes and aromatic baths.

“My focus with our spa is to promote the right ambience for our guests to discover themselves,” said Carolina Figueiras, spa director for Emiliano Hotels. “We are only introducing the way for them to start this inner journey. We aim to provide experiences that are felt, not spoken. We aim to improve emotional, mental and physical well-being through all senses. Instinctually, people search for what they need, and our team is composed of well-being ambassadors that gently guide and customise each experience.”

Located on the same floor as the Santapele Spa, the Spa Suites provide an extension of the wellness experience in a more intimate setting, combining accommodation with exclusive treatments and customised programmes.

The spa has partnered with Sisley Paris for facials and treatments, and also offers its own Santapele amenities line, fragranced with fruits and flowers inspired by the Atlantic forest.

A rooftop area is also dedicated to wellness, with an infinity pool, wet deck and views of Copacabana Beach. A poolside restaurant offers light portions and healthy dishes, such as salads and cold soups.

American architect Chad Oppenheim worked on the preliminary framework of the hotel and spa in partnership with Arthur de Mattos Casas, who also designed the interiors. The project is said to “rescue Brazilian modernism,” and includes intricate surfaces – named ‘cobogo’ – that were designed to improve the experience of light and landscape, and to create privacy.

The cobogo can be operated as articulated panels, revealing the inside of rooms, and were designed to break the continuity of the concrete blocks of buildings on the waterfront. The result is a facade that is organic in design, and ever-changing according to guests’ preference.

A panel by artist Roberto Burle Marx welcomes guests at reception, and fabrics and textures in the lobby furniture in shades of green are designed to honour the nature of the Guanabara Bay. The decor throughout the hotel has elements that reference the heyday of Copacabana’s bohemian years, with furniture signed by designers of the 1950s.