We (my wife and father-in-law, 2 friends and I) stayed in Lorenas house for an entire week and had a truly fantastic time. Her lovely maid Antonieta, who lives in the house above, gave us a very warm welcome and we felt at home right away. The house itself is stunning - beautiful colors, wooden floors, and everything is full of art. From the pool you have a great view over the city, and we were really happy about the decision to live up the hill in santa teresa as its fantastic to come back there from busy downtown and just relax. Without a car (we had a rental car) it might be a bit of a journey to get to copacabana or ipanema but its still definitely doable, and Lapa (best for going out/partying) is very close and taxis are cheap. Santa Teresa is absolutely safe as well, and there is a bunch of very cool bars and restaurant about 10mins walk from the house. Lorena is also running a very chique boutique hotel in Santa Teresa were we occasionally went to be served a huge and incredibly tasty breakfast! We were all immensely happy with our stay, highly recommend it to anyone! X Clemens and friends, from Austria