I highly recommend staying with Monica!
I was in Rio twice for the world cup matches of Germany and I was staying the 2nd time at her place.
That woman doesn't speak much english, but communication is no problem at all. She is really awesome, helpful, friendly and clean.
She picked me up from the airport, explained all ways to go and helped me buying things I didn't know where to find them.
The room I had was big, lots of space, nice furniture and a big bed.
The wifi was nice and fast too.
The apartment is located in the centro area, 5 min walk from the Airport Santos-Dumont. 3min walk to so many buses and the metro station. Not even 10 min walk and you are in Lapa. It's a very good and safe location. Busy at day, quiet at night. Restaurants are close.
Nice place and a nice price too.
Thank you, Monica!