Unfortunately we were a little late meeting up with Fabio due to the fact that we asked the information desk at the airport how to find the airport shuttle bus and they dircected us to "a blue bus service" (which turned out to be the local bus and took about 2 and a half hours to get to Copacabana Beach in the traffic). Fabio was understanding about our delay but we were a bit embarassed that we had kept him waiting. The apartment was centrally located (within walking distance to the beach), clean, modern, and compact with 24 hour security. We don't speak any Portugese but Fabio was able to communicate with us in English and was extremely helpful in providing all relavant information including a map. He suggested restaurants, how to purchase tickets for tourist attractions and marked most things out on the map. He also suggested visiting the hippy markets that are open on Sundays - which we really enjoyed. Fabio was a wonderful, helpful host and it was obvious he wanted us to enjoy his apartment and our trip to Rio. Only bug bear was spare towels (ie none are provided). Our bath towels got wet after the 1st day and although we hung them out to dry on the balcony - they didn't really get dry. I think the problem was a little to do with us - we had just finished a cruise and linen was plentiful so we became a little spoilt - anyway we adjusted our routine (used the hand towels) so it wasn't a major problem. Rio was fantastic, a really interesting place to visit. I am sure anyone wishing to go to the Olympics stay at Fabio's - he is very helpful. He arranged our transport getting back to the airport which worked out perfectly. Thanks Fabio for the wonderful stay - love love loved it! Ros & Graeme Stone