My stay with Marcos in his apartment was an overall good experience. Marcos was flexible the day I arrived and waited for me while I was late arriving from another host across the city. My room was as described with comfortable bed, nice fan, convenient desk and ample closet space. The best part about Marcos's apartment is the location and proximity to the beach. Marcos was able to offer some suggestions about where to go in Rio(he knows the region very well). Marcos also let me borrow his bicycle which was a bonus before I had the city orange bike pass. If I had one complaint, I'd say the kitchen area could have been cleaner and had more "tools" for cooking(i.e. no blender). I got along well with Marcos and we had some great talks about life, living, and the pursuit of happiness, ha, ha;) I also feel I should describe the wife speed, while slow wifi is the norm in Brazil, the speed in the room I rented would not support those working from the road...it improved in the main living area(maybe not a big deal for most). I felt safe and secure in the building with a 24 hour doorman. The shared bathroom was never a conflict & kept clean. The area, Leblon, although overpriced in my opinion, is very safe and close to the other tourist areas like Ipanema & Copacabana beaches. You can walk from the apartment door and access banking, acai/juices, bakery, grocery, pharmacy, bars, orange city bikes, etc...