After two years of planning with listed building authorities in Rio de Janeiro in Brazil, Orient-Express Hotels has secured permission to reconstruct and refurbish the original casino rooms in the Copacabana Palace Hotel.

The project, which will take seven months to complete at a cost of US$4m (£2.2m, 3.2m euros) will add around 11,000sq ft (1,000sq m) of function space.

The Copacabana Casino’s heyday came to an end in 1946 when gambling became illegal.

The work should be completed by March 2006. The hotel will remain open as usual throughout.