The skeleton of a luxury hotel hidden for 70 years in the Tijuca Forest

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The Gávea Tourist Hotel was conceived in the 1950s and had a grandiose project, but the construction company responsible for the development went bankrupt and never completed the works. Abandoned, the space was named Hotel Esqueleto, it was visited by onlookers and now it can come back to life with new investment. Discover the abandoned hotel in the middle of the Tijuca Forest 70 years ago a luxury hotel, known at the time as Gávea Tourist Hotel. The g1 climbed the more than 270 steps of the abandoned building and toured the 16 floors of the development, which was conceived in 1953 and, even after 70 years, has never gone beyond an unfinished skeleton (see details in the video above). In the 1970s, the company managing the project went bankrupt and, consequently, the work was never completed – which provided for more than 30,000 square meters of built area and 440 rooms. The space was abandoned and, retaken by nature, came to be called Hotel Esqueleto by locals. The “new” administration took over the area more than 10 years ago, in 2011. But now, he guarantees, the hotel will get off the ground, with another name and a slightly different format. “In 2011, when we took over, we had some scares in relation to this project that was abandoned. We found people living here, some car wrecks. All that was resolved, and the land was cleared”, said Marcos Cumagai, adviser to the new administrator, Gávea Residence e Corporações. Even under the care of the company, in recent years the skeleton has started to attract tourists interested in the view. “We closed the area, but even so, tourists and young admirers of nature invaded the place on weekends to do abseiling and observation tours”, explained Cumagai. Famous people, such as actor Cauã Reymond (image below), have also climbed the building to take pictures. In addition, a music video, with the participation of rapper Filipe Ret, was also recorded on site. Initial plugin text The history of Gávea Designed by the architect Décio da Silva Pacheco, the Gávea Tourist Hotel was conceived as a luxury establishment, aimed at the high-income public. The original project provided for 440 rooms and even the construction of a cable car. With a modernist design, the standard room would have a bar, a small kitchen, an anteroom and a balcony (according to the plan below, from the original project). Despite never becoming a hotel, the space has always attracted interest. In 1965, the skeleton hosted a large New Year’s party and, in the same decade, a nightclub called Sky Terrace even opened on site (below, image of an invitation to a party on Sky). The place received personalities from the “high society” of Rio de Janeiro in exclusive parties, organized on the terrace of Gávea. “It seems to me that, during the 70s or 80s, there was a nightclub or a club. They had some parties here on the roof. It seems that this was for a short time, around a year, and then it was definitively closed”, said Cumagai. The future of Gávea The promise of the new administration, which took over the development in 2011, is to put the Gávea Boutique & Extended Stay Hotel into operation from 2026. The 440 apartments in the initial project will be transformed into 80 of a boutique hotel and 150 “long stay” accommodation units – in which the accommodation offers amenities similar to those of a residential apartment. “The secret of Gávea is this wonderful view, this unique contemplation environment. I can say that few places in the world have all these attributes. It has the Carioca soul here. What remains is for us to recover this structure and, effectively, put it into operation”. As it is a preservation area, the new administrator needed to acquire the environmental licenses Municipal Preliminary License (LMP) and Municipal Installation License (LMI) – they authorize the beginning of the recovery works of the enterprise. The company had already obtained, during the project approval process, the favorable opinion of Iphan (National Historical and Artistic Heritage Institute) which pointed out “the non-existence of activities potentially causing damage to the environment”. The g1 got in touch with Iphan and the Municipal Secretariat for Economic Development, Innovation and Simplification of the Municipality of Rio de Janeiro, who confirmed the issuing of licenses. The next steps for the project to finally get off the ground are: Recovery and revitalization of the entire structure; architectural and interior design, assembly of model apartments and presentation to the specialist market to validate the concept of products – hotel + residential; Installation of special projects: electrical, plumbing, elevators, air conditioning, building automation and revision of the architectural project; Furniture and interior decoration based on architectural and interior design. If, 70 years later, Gávea will finally get off the ground, it is still too early to say. But g1’s visit to the site confirms it: the view (and the steps) is breathtaking.

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