Irresistible Rio: Of breathtaking beaches, music and fabulous food

The wonderful thing about the sea-facing room at the Grand Hyatt Rio, is that you can observe the moods of the ocean without the pain of being tossed in one. However late I slept or however exhausted I was, I'd be up before sunrise to watch the Brazilian sky samba with the mighty Atlantic ocean beneath. A sliver of orange would first present itself like the master of ceremonies prepping up the crowd. The light would throw a slim beam on the roaring waters, expanding as the orange turned to yellow turned to gold, while the ocean in turn roared and crashed its waves on the shore, displaying the greens, the greys and the aqua blues, till all at once the sun came out in full, and I, out of my trance. It's a fix I looked forward to.

Rio de Janeiro means the River of January. Google will tell you more. But to most of us, Rio means excitement. It means the Carnival, the Maracanã Stadium where Pelé scored his 100th goal. It's the towering Christ the Redeemer. It's samba and the Girl from Ipanema, the sprawling beaches of Copacabana and the sense of a never-ending party.

It's also people going through the daily grind of working for a living, of fighting the worst recession in years; favelas jazzed up as tourist hotspots manifesting as fridge magnets that still have a sense of violence and despair about them. But if you're only on a tourist ticket, your Brazilian real will serve you and the city's economy well to hop into scenes hitherto just seen on television.

The urban sprawl of Rio includes rainforests, oceans, rivers and mountains, with four distinctive districts that showcase their own trophies.

God is watching you

We know that Christ is omnipresent. But nothing prepares you for how, until you're in Rio. The familiar outstretched avatar of Christ follows you just about everywhere, between two buildings, clad in clouds, behind the mall, now dazzling from a side-street... But most magnificent is when you're up on the mountain reduced to a dot at His feet. The 98 x 92 foot art deco image is the promise of God watching over the city from the very top of the Corcovado mountain amidst the Tijuca rainforest. You feel blessed. Not because you're staring up miles away at the imposing structure, but because this is one of the modern-day seven wonders of the world and you are right there, right now. How can you not feel on top of the world?

For those who like the tug and pull of cable cars, head to Sugarloaf mountain, which you see from Corcovado. To reach there, you first get from the city base to the Urca mountain and then to the peak for an unparalleled, breathtaking, 360-degree view of the city. Sugarloaf got its name because it looks like blocks of sugar stacked in a conical shape, when cane was made into sugar in the days of yore. Today, it's a tourist attraction with restaurants, treks and a zillion things to do.

Divine to sublime

There are so many facets to Rio, that you have to remind yourself to savour the experiences. A couple of things you can never get away from: Samba and the song The Girl from Ipanema... "Tall and tan and young and lovely/The girl from Ipanema goes walking/and when she passes, each one she passes goes ah..." The song is more than an anthem that comes on everytime you switch on the radio, in the elevator, or in the malls – it's for real on the beaches. You find yourself sticking out like a sore thumb if you're not in a thong bikini or surfing, playing beach volley, or tanning yourself into a glorious red lobster (I wasn't, hence awkward!).

The south zone of the city is one mighty long stretch of beaches that begins where the Grand Hyatt is located – at the Barra da Tijuca, a quiet and peaceful beach. Within a few miles, it turns friendly to include Leblon, then swings into the party zones of Ipanema and into the sophisticated surf of Copacabana. You come away enviously wishing Mumbai could do something fun and constructive like this with our coastline. Later in the evening, we tried even more awkwardly to match the steps of a samba instructor at a fabulous display of grace and long legs that we could never hope to have.

Old towns, new traditions

Santa Teresa is a place you should visit if food is on your mind. Not that there aren't other places (the Downtown area for one, where Le Corbusier cast his architectural spell, and where amidst magnificent buildings like the City Library, the Opera House, and the Municipal building, you will find lots of interesting restaurants), but old town's Santa Teresa's cobbled streets and winding roads with trams clunking up and down will charm you enough to spend a day here, dine at the hidden gem Aprazível, which allows you a glimpse of the city, the world at your feet and a delicious spread on the table. What more can one want, except of course, a tall glass of Caipirinha to aid and abet this goodness?

Very Hyatt

The Grand Hyatt Rio de Janeiro is located in Barra da Tijuca on the 18-kilometre long beach front. The sprawling property with 436 rooms, designed by the famous Yabu Pushelberg, is in sync with its natural surroundings. You'll want for nothing in terms of service and cuisine with three buzzing restaurants: the Brazilian, Canto; Italian Tano Cuicina; and Japanese Shiso.The cherry on the cake is it's a pet-friendly hotel, so long as your puppy doesn't go ape. By year end, the Hyatt experience extends itself to Grand Hyatt Kochi Bolgatty, a luxury waterfront hotel. The 264 rooms promise the serenity of the backwaters, the cityscape and the landscaped gardens. If it's Kochi, one can look forward to sumptuous Kerala cuisine among the other world gastronomies that Hyatt is associated with. Watch this space.