| Palácio Quitandinha | |
|---|---|
| Palácio Quitandinha. | |
| Location | Petrópolis, State of Rio de Janeiro, Brazil |
| Coordinates | |
| Opening date | 1944 |
| Rooms | 440 |
| Suites | 13 |
| Total floor area | 50,000 square meters |
| Floors | 6 |
| Website | Quitandinha Palace - Petrópolis Foundation of Culture and Tourism |
The Palácio Quitandinha is a monumental luxurious hotel in Petrópolis, State of Rio de Janeiro, Brazil. It is probably the second most famous hotel of the country, after the Copacabana Palace Hotel in the city of Rio de Janeiro which is only about 65 km from Petrópolis.
Constructed in 1944 by the Brazilian entrepreneur Joaquim Rolla, the Palácio Quitandinha is one of the most impressive architectural monuments in Petrópolis. It was built in the Norman-French style (outside) and the Rococo style (inside), as the former is very much present in the architecture of Petrópolis due to West European colonization. The surface area of the hotel is 50 thousand square meters and has six floors, and the ground floor is 10 meters high. It has 440 rooms plus 13 suites. When it was opened, the Palácio Quitandinha, was as the "Cassino Hotel Quitandinha", the largest hotel casino in Latin America for a mere two years, during the period when gambling was permitted in Brazil, from 1930 until May 30, 1946, when the federal government under President Eurico Gaspar Dutra had outlawed all types of gambling from casinos to games of chance in Brazil, by his Presidential decree.
This caused a severe financial crisis for the hotel and being unable to survive solely as a hotel, its apartments were gradually sold out. The hotel was reinvented as "convention center hotel" in 1989 and is used for many important conferences to his day. The imposing façade and the scenic surrounding of the hotel makes it an important tourist attraction itself. The Palácio Quitandinha is unique, that it is simultaneously a hotel, a convention center, and a museum.
Many famous guests who stayed at the include stars like Errol Flynn, Orson Welles, Lana Turner, Henry Fonda, Maurice Chevalier, Greta Garbo, Carmen Miranda, Walt Disney, Bing Crosby, politicians like Eva Perón and President Getúlio Vargas of Brazil and a dethroned King Carol II of Romania.
The scenic artificial lake in front of the hotel, is in the shape of Brazil, and was built as the only viable support in the event of an unexpected fire.