Hotel Permanente, São Paulo

We arrived in São Paulo the way the city likes you to, straight into a wall of energy, and found refuge behind the heavy pivot door of Hotel Permanente on Rua Oscar Freire. The lobby is a statement of intent: raw board-marked concrete, a double-height void, a single vast canvas by a São Paulo painter, and furniture in caviúna and leather that descends directly from the Brazilian modernist masters. It is cool in temperature and in temperament. A staffer in head-to-toe black brought us espresso in a handleless ceramic cup while we took in the quiet, deliberate luxury of the place.

The room

Our room continued the argument that concrete can be warm. Floor-to-ceiling glass framed the restless Jardins skyline; a wall of slatted freijó hardwood concealed the wardrobe and minibar; the bed, low and wide, wore crisp percale and a single bolster of indigo. There was a proper writing desk, a leather lounge chair angled to the view, and a curated shelf of Brazilian art and design books that we genuinely read. The bathroom was a monolith of green Brazilian stone with a deep soaking tub and underfloor warmth. Blackout blinds and triple glazing reduced the megacity outside to a silent, glittering diorama.

Permanente proves that São Paulo's brutalist inheritance, handled with care, makes for one of the most sophisticated rooms in the city.The Suite Edit

Service & food

Service is polished and professional without tipping into formality, the concierge plugged into the city's notoriously hard-to-book dining scene. The real coup, though, is downstairs: the hotel restaurant, run by a respected paulistano chef, turns out a contemporary Brazilian menu, palm heart, Amazonian fish, an absurdly good dessert of cupuaçu, that drew locals as well as guests on both our nights. Breakfast is a similarly serious affair, with a pão de queijo and fresh juice spread, and the bar mixes a cachaça old-fashioned worth lingering over. For a São Paulo hotel, the food is a destination in itself.

The verdict

Hotel Permanente is for the design-literate business or leisure traveller who wants São Paulo's most polished neighbourhood and a room that doubles as a master class in Brazilian modernism. Solo professionals and couples will both feel at home. The gentle caveat is character of place: Jardins is sleek, moneyed and a little buttoned-up, so travellers chasing the raw creative grit of Vila Madalena or the centre will want to venture out at night. As a base of comfort, design and very good food, however, it is hard to fault.