Jennifer made us feel very welcomed in her home ☺ She also made herself available to us the entire time we were there, including the days before we showed up. She set up an English speaking cab driver for us who picked us up at the airport and dropped us off at the end of our stay. She showed us to the room, how to use things, gave us maps of the neighborhood, had a print out of reminders for use of the space (all appropriate and practical). Jennifer suggested using the What’s App application that uses the internet to message each other. We used this throughout our time in Rio to ask her questions and get her suggestions about the sites. She also printed us directions of how to get back to her home in Santa Teresa so cab drivers (who rarely speak English) can get us back safely to her neighborhood.

To our knowledge, the listing was accurate. The room exceeded our expectations, as it is spacious, light, airy, and above all, in the most beautiful neighborhood in the city on top of a hill overlooking multiple neighborhoods such as Santa Teresa, Lapa, and Centro. The room felt private and very safe (multiple gates and at the top of the neighborhood). We loved the patio that looked over the city, and the books available for browsing bars, restaurants, and the sites.

The neighborhood Santa Teresa is gorgeous, as that’s where the rich receded to when disease hit the city mid 19th century. As such, the homes are beautifully aged and grand, and the roads are made of cobblestone (don’t wear heals). There are many delicious restaurants, cool shops, and tourist sites near the house. We frequently took the famous steps Escadaria Selaron down to other neighborhoods to walk further or take the metro to other areas of the city (10-15 minute walk). Overall, Santa Teresa is very walkable (many stairs and some steep hills but totally worth it). If you’re dead set on only using taxi’s or Uber, you can still stay in Santa Teresa. Taxi’s is the best way to go (over Uber) because they know the city better. But we used Ubers to get down to other areas of the city (because they were cheapest and most of our drivers knew where we were headed though not all) and we used taxi’s to get back to the neighborhood (because they were the neighborhood better). As guests, we think it’s important to have forethoughts about transportation before booking a place to stay. Overall, we suggest Santa Teresa as a great place to stay with ease of transportation.