Had a great stay at Ana’s. She was very warm, friendly, welcoming. She had even left us cold water and juice in the fridge. She went out of her way to help us. It’s an open plan, well thought out modern studio, with everything you need. The views over the seas from the open windows are breathtaking. The only improvement would be to have a blind but Ana provides eye masks. We were even given a loan of bikes for free. We cycled along the sea front to Ipanema beach. It’s at the bottom of the Vidigal favela but you feel completely safe and it was nice being part of the community. There is a lady Sandra who can give you a meal for 12 Reals, who just lives down the stairs and there’s also a great burger place called Hoppen burger not far from the flat. There are quite a lot of steep stairs to walk up to get to the apartment, so wouldn’t be good if you had mobility problems. We were able to unload our luggage at the front of the flat and then Ana showed us a parking area on a street near the Shearaton hotel where we left the car for 3 days and it was perfectly safe. Ana runs a favela tour of Vidigal too which I would totally recommend-our guide, Fred also a local was excellent and spoke English. Would definitely come back and stay here again!