A tale of two hotels in Rio de Janeiro celebrating Air Canada's new non-stop service
Steve MacNaull
There was a party at departure gate E70 at Pearson airport on Dec. 4th to mark the inaugural Air Canada YYZ-GIG flight. There was food and drink, soccer players booting and heading balls around, a giant boarding pass photo op and mingling airline executives, government reps, travel industry pros and passengers.
Upon arrival in Rio, passengers arrived to even more celebration – a mini Carnival, if you will – with raucous samba music, costumed dancers and waving flags.
The new non-stop AC84 flights operate three times a week, Tuesdays, Thursdays and Saturdays, seasonally until March 26, 2026 with departure from Toronto at 11:30 p.m. and arrival in Rio 10 hours and 35 minutes later at 12:05 p.m. the next day.
The return AC85 operates Wednesdays, Fridays and Sundays, leaving Rio at 9 p.m. and landing in Toronto 10 hours and 40 minutes later at 5:40 a.m. the next day.
The full name of Rio’s international airport is Galeao-Antonio Carlos Jobim, a hyphenated tribute to nearby Galleon Beach and the father of bossa nova music who composed the music for the 1964 hit song The Girl from Ipanema.
The 298-seat Boeing 787-9 Dreamliner flies the route with 30 lie-flat bed pods in Signature (business) Class, 21 seats in Premium Economy and 247 seats in economy.
The foray to Rio is part of Air Canada’s ambitious international expansion with winter 2025-26 non-stops also to Cartagena, Pointe-a-Pitre, Guadalajara and Puerto Escondido and the resumption of flights to Shanghai and Budapest in summer 2026.
From Copacabana chic to Santa Teresa retreat
Your clients truly can have it all. So, when in Rio, don’t let them choose between a beachfront icon hotel and a bohemian urban hideaway – they can stay at both.
That’s right, on a six-day trip to the go-go megatropolis of Rio de Janeiro, we split our time between the Fairmont Copacabana (yes, located on arguably the world’s most famous beach) and MGallery Santa Teresa (a boutique hotel in the artsy and hilly Santa Teresa neighbourhood two kilometres from the Atlantic). Fairmont is the five-star Canadian-founded brand purchased by French hospitality giant Accor a decade ago. And, MGallery is Accor’s collection of unique and storied small hotels.
We were initially torn between the two while planning our trip to Rio. Did we want to see and be seen on Copacabana? Or, did we want a poolside refuge with a sweeping view? We ultimately decided: Why not have a duality of experiences?
While Fairmont Copacabana and MGallery Santa Teresa are both Accor properties, they couldn’t be more different. The Fairmont is a 13-storey, mid-century beauty that was originally built as a TV station in 1971, then became the Rio Palace Hotel in 1979 and a Sofitel (another luxury division of Accor) in 1988. In 2019, it was rebranded Fairmont after an extensive renovation created 375 rooms and suites and first brought the Fairmont name to Latin America.
MGallery Santa Teresa is a former, 1850-era manor house of a coffee plantation owner. It was previously a Relais & Chateaux hotel before becoming the first and only MGallery in Brazil in 2016.
Now, let’s get down to the nitty-gritty of the two.
Fairmont Copacabana is located on the well known Copacabana Beach; MGallery Santa Teresa is found in the artsy Santa Teresa neighbourhood
Fairmont Copacabana
Contemporary and sumptuous, the Fairmont is ideally located at the south end of scenic Copacabana Beach.
The four-kilometre-long crescent of golden sand is packed daily with sunbathers, volleyball and soccer players and vendors selling everything from made-to-order barbecue and corn on the cob fresh from a boiling pot of water to sunglasses, bikinis and portable speakers. Ironically, none of them were selling sunscreen.
The Fairmont has an exclusive beach club here and its own restaurant — Tropik — over the sand.
If a pool is more your vibe, the Fairmont has two — an infinity pool overlooking the beach and a cabana-ringed courtyard pool.
Upgraded to a Gold one-bedroom, two-bathroom king suite with two balconies on the ninth floor, we not only revel in the view of Copacabana, but the dreamy comfort of the plush Fairmont Signature Bed.
Gold status means a separate check-in on the fourth floor and a Gold Lounge for the included breakfast, all-day retreat and 6 pm to 8 pm happy hours.
Mgallery Santa Teresa
As a former coffee plantation owner’s mansion, this 43-room hotel has kept many of the stone wall and floor, dark wood and shuttered window elements.
We felt like the plantation owner and his wife occupying a historic, third-floor bedroom, yet with all the mod-cons.
The grounds are jungle-like with paths and stairways leading to the chic, long and narrow pool, Le Spa and the Michelin-recommended French-Brazilian Tereze steak and seafood restaurant, where we devoured filet mignons with onion tart.
“Eighty-five percent of our guests are foreigners seeking a different stay in Rio,” explained MGallery Santa Teresa general manager Sophie Barbara.
“A mindful, relaxing, refuge that’s also close to everything Rio.”
As such, it’s our base to venture out for Nattrip’s Rio Express tour for front-of-the-line access to two of the city’s biggest attractions — Christ the Redeemer and Sugarloaf Mountain –and GuruWalk’s tour of Santa Teresa and the elaborately tile, 215-step Selaron Staircase.
