We continue to expand our hotel coverage in Brazil with the addition of the DPNY Beach Hotel (a favorite getaway for wealthy Sao Paulo residents) on the southern coast. It’s situated in a cove on the Ilhabela island, making it the closest thing to a private beach you get in Brazil. On that beach you find “an intricate maze of beach chairs, parasols, four-poster beds, and teepees (for the privacy starved and sun-shy). All of the above come with white leather cushions or mattresses and enormous zebra-skin pillows upon which you can very easily fall asleep.”

DPNY tries hard to be a hipster hotel, with its name made of initials, the party going until sunrise, and a DJ spinning tunes in the public areas all hours day and night. But our correspondent Michael Sommers says it’s done with the right attitude.

“DPNY achieves the rare feat of being mind-blowingly original in a way that pays homage to Brazilians’ talent for combining disparate elements to create works of great singularity. What saves DPNY from being too hip is its emphasis on casualness and playfulness—happily, it doesn’t take itself too seriously.”

He says the views here are heavenly, but upgrade from a standard room if you want any natural light in your room. Overall though, this is a winner. “If you’re in the mood for fun in the sun amidst beautiful surroundings, you won’t be disappointed.” See the full review of DPNY.

When we first sent someone to review the best hotels in Brazil, the Mofarrej business hotel in São Paulo didn’t come close to making the cut. Now completely revamped as the Tivoli Mofarrej São Paulo, it has a different face and attitude to show off.

“Although in theory, the São Paulo Mofarrej has been around for some time—it spent more than 25 years under the aegis of both Sheraton and Gran Melia–the hotel had the recent good fortune to land in the hands of Portugal’s Tivoli chain. After spending seven months closed for (much anticipated) renovations, the new and very much improved Tivoli São Paulo Mofarrej reopened in February 2009 to great acclaim. Within months it joined the exclusive Leading Hotels of the World club and was named by the Quatros Rodas guide (Brazil’s equivalent of the Michelin) as one of the top hotels in the country.”

We don’t automatically add hotels that have paid to be part of the Leading Hotels of the World marketing group, but it’s a good sign, as is the addition of a spa run by Banyan Tree. Since our contributor Michael Sommers lives in Brazil and is a guidebook writer, his endorsement tipped the scales and we’re happy to add this rejuvenated hotel in a great location to our reviews of the best hotels in Brazil’s capital. See our full review of  Tivoli São Paulo Mofarrej.

I’m one of those cranky editors always whining about my inbox being jammed up with press releases I never open, much less read. But every once in a while I get something interesting like this that’s worth sharing.

The lovely Las Ventanas al Paraiso resort in Los Cabos has worked out an arrangement where they’re getting advance copies of books from U.S. publishers. These “galleys” are the copies sent out to reviewers well ahead of the book being commercially available, so that they can write their review far enough ahead to make it into the magazine when the book is hitting the shelves. Las Ventanas is handing these out to their guests to read by the pool or in their room, giving them a rare chance to read a novel before the book clubs have even heard of it (and before Oprah has given her blessing).

The currently available novels include:

* The Lake Shore Limited by Sue Miller
* The Third Rail by Michael Harvey
* 29 by Adena Halpern
* Zoo Story by Thomas French
* The Ark by Boyd Morrison
* The Other Family by Joanna Trollope
* The Poet Prince by Kathleen McGowan
* Beautiful Maria of My Soul by Oscar Hijuelos
* A Soft Place to Land by Susan Rebecca White
* The Life of Andrew Jackson by Robert Remini

Las Ventanas is known for rolling out unique services, like having a bath butler get your room all set up and romantic while you’re having dinner. Hey, they even have a Department of Romance. This advance book Hot Type program is another service that’s unique and surprising—which is kind of rare in the post-Dubai hotel world.

See our full review of Las Ventanas al Paraiso and a blog post on their guest culinary program.

The first W hotel opened in South America recently, in Chile’s capital of Santiago. We’ve got a detailed review of it, turned in by our man on the scene in Chile: W Santiago Hotel review.

This isn’t the only W hotel in Latin America, as the W in Mexico City has been a trust fund kids’ social magnet for years. I’m kind of surprised Starwood hasn’t opened more of these in the region, actually, since they are struggling in the U.S. and have lost two key hotels because of financial problems. The concept might not fly in a place like Buenos Aires or Sao Paulo, where there are already more than enough designer hotels without bringing in a corporate version, but in many other Latin American capitals there’s a serious dearth of hip hotels with good aesthetics that will appeal to people under age 50.

This Santiago version is too large to be considered a “boutique hotel” since it has 196 rooms and is attached to a huge real estate development with “a convention center, offices, luxury apartments, a sprawling gym, and several boutique stores including a local wine store—a store that is installing on the premises the largest wine cellar in Chile.” It’s got all the right visual touches though and has quickly become the place to see and be seen in Santiago.

If your taste runs to the modern rather than the frilly antique reproductions you’ll find at the Ritz-Carlton Santiago, then Chile’s new W Hotel is ready to welcome you. See the full review here.

When most travelers think of the Los Cabos area, they think of big splashy beach resorts, glitzy spas, and huge pool complexes. Casa Natalia is not one of those. For us “luxury” is about attentive service and a sense of place as much as it is about amenities and glamor, so we’re happy to get a review up of this fine boutique hotel in San Jose del Cabo.

“Casa Natalia celebrated its first decade in 2009, yet many Cabo regulars are unaware of its presence. It’s not on one of Cabo’s many unswimmable beaches (Los Cabos is a beach resort with few safe places to play in the water). There aren’t any rowdy nightclubs or chain restaurants in the neighborhood. Instead, Casa Natalia anchors the increasingly gentrified historic disrict of downtown San José del Cabo.”

This little hideaway has only 16 rooms and suites, but has a restaurant that earns raves and with a no-children-under-13 policy, it’s a romantic retreat as well. See our full review here: Casa Natalia in San Jose del Cabo.