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It takes quite a lot for a hotel to become as iconic as the city where it is located. Especially if that city is Rio de Janeiro.

The Brazilian hub is blessed with it all, soaring mountings, lush forests, a necklace of golden-white sands and brilliant blue water and a population of beautiful, gregarious cariocas (as the residents are known).

And one glistening whitewashed building stands out on one of the city's most famous beaches - the Belmond Copacabana Palace, a glorious throwback to Rio's glamorous heyday.

With golden sands, lush mountains and even a National Park, Rio de Janeiro is quite rightfully known as the Marvellous City

The Copacabana Palace is the most iconic hotel in South America and is steeped in history and glamour

Opened as South America's first luxury hotel in 1923, the gleaming Copacabana Palace was a beacon of luxury for the Hollywood elite, who flocked to the exotic climes of Brazil for sun sea and sand.

In its time, the hotel has hosted everyone from Marilyn Monroe to Madonna and Princess Diana and was immortalised in the 1933 film Flying Down To Rio starring Fred Astaire and Ginger Rodgers.

And not everyone has been well-behaved during their stay. Stories abound of Orson Welles throwing a desk out of his window in 1942, Errol Flynn reportedly danced naked down the halls in 1939 and Jayne Mansfield allegedly sunbathed topless by the pool, causing something of a stir in the Sixties.

Looking out over Copacabana Beach, the hotel adds a stylish element to an area that has been somewhat overtaken by other beaches, such as Ipanema

Jayne Mansfield allegedly sunbathed topless by the pool of the Copacabana Palace, causing something of a stir in the Sixties

Today, the white facade gives way to a cool marble interior, Baccarat crystal chandeliers, display cases documenting the hotel's history and smiling staff with impeccable English.

The true VIPs stay on the sixth floor, where the most luxurious suites are and such is the hotel's reputation for service, that some wealthy Brazilians will splash out the substantial room rate (from £1,800 a night for a suite and a more modest £284 for a room) for frequent weekend stays.

A documentary last year followed the likes of celebrity hairdresser Marco Antonio di Biaggi, who is based in Sao Paolo but flies up to Rio each weekend to enjoy a luxurious stay at the hotel.

Every morning and evening, cariocas take to the beach to exercise, with a dedicated running track along the beachfront, workout equipment and endless games of football and footvolley

He explained: 'I was born very, very poor and I remember when I was a teenager, I saw Copacabana Palace from the front, and thought: "One day, I'll stay here."'

European and American guests also make up the lion's share of guests, relaxing away from the hubbub of the beach by the serene courtyard pool, playing tennis on the court on the roof and tucking into stylish meals at the on-site Cipriani. Although, if you want a more authentic Brazilian experience, try the feijoada - a traditional black bean stew with pork - served at the Pergula restaurant.

Those lucky enough to have a suite overlooking can sea can wake up the the sun streaming in and a view of energetic cariocas indulging in their morning exercise on the beach, whether that is running, using the public exercise machines or playing footvolley - the uniquely Brazilian sport which, as the name suggest, combines football and volleyball into a creative game of batting a ball over a net without using your hands.

The Santa Teresa neighborhood is perched up in the hills of Rio de Janeiro. Despite transport issues to reach the area of the city, it is well worth it for spectacular views, cobbled streets, great eateries and art galleries

Be careful walking around Santa Teresa at night, but make sure you visit the artists' retreat to soak up the atmosphere

Copacabana as an area has seen better days, certainly if you walk a few blocks back from the beach, where rundown tourist shops blend into everyday Rio life, but the hotel and the beach it graces are still favourites with visitors and locals. And if you want to experience the old-school glamour of the city, it's worth a stop-over at the Copacabana Palace, if only for one night.

In the Sixties, bossa nova music and one particular song - The Girl From Ipanema - turned Copacabana's neighbouring beach into a new stylish hangout. Ipanema's charm remains today, with the city's most beautiful inhabitants flocking to the sands on weekends, where there is always music playing, a football being kicked, and crowds thronging the food stalls.

Head inland from the beach for stylish boutiques, big brand names, restaurants and buzzing bars. It is in one of these bars where composer Antonio Carlos Jobim and poet Vinícius de Moraes's were said to be so enamoured with passing 18-year-old Heloisa Eneida Menezes Pais Pinto, they penned a song about her on napkins.

Rio Scenarium is one of the most popular gafieras (dance halls) in the Lapa district of Rio, where tourists and locals dance the night away to samba, choro and forró beats

They were sat in Veloso Bar, which has, of course, now rebranded as Garota de Ipanema (The Girl from Ipanema) and is filled with stylish young people looking for a cool Brahms beer in the heat of the day.

For quieter beaches and great food, still further west is Leblon beach. Its distance from the main tourist spots means it is the quieter of the beaches along that popular stretch of Rio coastline and the streets behind the sands have become a culinary hub. 

The street Dias Ferreira is possibly the best street for eateries in Leblon - and Rio - with cuisine from all over the world represented from Spanish tapas at Venga! to Italian at Stuzzi and the well-respected eatery Sushi Leblon.

While it's tempting to spend all day on the beach, before heading to Pão de Açúcar (Sugarloaf Mountain) or the rocky promontory Ponta do Arpoador between Copcabana and Ipanema (where there is a park named... you guessed it Garota de Ipanema) to watch the most spectacular sunsets you'll ever see, there is more to Rio than golden sands.

In fact, head to the city area and you'll discover so much more about Rio and its history. If you want to feel the true samba rhythms of the city, head up to Lapa, a charmingly run-down area that had fallen on hard times and become a red light district, but has been cleaned up in recent years.

In the evening, the colonial architecture just adds to the romance of a district gripped by music, with samba, choro and forró beats seeping into the night air from traditional gafieras - the 1920s-style dance halls which have recently seen a resurgence - as well as plenty of clubs.

Santa Teresa sits high up in the city, set back from the sea, with cobbled streets, colourful buildings and plenty of greenery around. Art galleries, eateries and beautiful views make it a pleasure to stroll around, although be careful at night, and there is no shortage of bars where you can mingle with Bohemian locals and drink artisan Cachaça late into the night. Santa Teresa is a pain to get to - you'll be relying on buses or a taxi to whisk you into the hills since the much-needed trams were taken out of service following a tragic accident that left six dead - but it's worth the climb. 

Sugarloaf not only stands out as an iconic peak looking over the city, but also as a fantastic spot for panoramic views of Rio at sunset

Rio's pacified favelas have become popular for parties and even affordable accommodation as locals set up guesthouses and businesses to cater to tourists looking for a unique place to stay

If you're looking for nightlife, the latest trend is to head to the favelas for funk parties. While it may not always be advisable - the favelas are the slums of Rio, mazes of concrete block houses often perched high in the hills with spectacular views over the city - that hasn't stopped tourists joining locals to party into the small hours.

Police crackdowns have cleaned up a lot of favelas around the city, taking them back from the drug gangs that once controlled them as part of a pacification programme - although that is not to say that they are all safe.

While some tourists opt for organised favela tours - which are encouraged for their potential investment benefits and derided as 'poverty tourism' in equal measure - it seems attending a party in the slums is the latest trend for backpackers.

There is even talk of tourists joining locals for 'laje parties' which take place on the flat roofs of the favela properties, with barbecues and, of course, plenty of music.

For those who aren't sold on the idea of dancing the night away, there are plenty of guest house and rental options for accommodation in the favelas, providing a new income for locals and helping visitors avoid the sky-high hotel prices often quoted in the city. 

One thing the favelas can't be beaten on is there spectacular views. Head out onto one of the lajes (roofs) and look out across the lush greens of Tijuca National Park, the bright patchwork of houses below, soaring peaks and the sea glistening in the distance. 

Suddenly you understand why Rio is known as the Cidade Maravilhosa (Marvellous City).