Elizabeth (Bete) was very warm and welcoming. With such a diverse resume -- surfer, fisherman, aquarium guru to high-end hotels, civic and environmental activist -- she has plenty of great stories to share. She also invited me to share several of her delicious home-cooked meals, which was a wonderful surprise.

The apartment is beautifully decorated, and the king suite did feel like a high-end hotel room. To be fair, the apartment is on a low floor facing a street that's a major bus route -- so it gets quite noisy during certain hours of the day. There is also a disco across the street that pumps out loud music on weekend nights.

The kitchen was being renovated while I was staying there, which was a bit of a surprise, though not too inconvenient.

Bete shares the apartment with her ex-husband and ex-fishing partner, Mario, who is a serious practicioner of yoga and an enthusiastic proponent of conspiracty theories -- he's quite a character! I also got to meet Bete's sister one day -- who happens to be an accomplished bossa nova singer and guitar player, and who took me on a tour through Tijuca National Forest. And that's the thing about airbnb -- you're not just renting a room, your sharing someone's household.

Bete is new to the hosting business (I was only their second airbnb guest), and in some respects the apartment was a work in progress. But I was delighted to get to know such an interesting and warm person who I otherwise would never have met. Thanks, airbnb!