My husband, 14 year old son, 16 yo daughter and I stayed 3 nights at Eduardo's apartment at the beginning of our trip to Brazil and have decided to stay our last 3 nights there as well. We chose Recreio to be close to our family and because it is more "tranquillo" than other parts of Rio right now - meaning that we feel safer here. The building has 24 hour security and we loved that we could step out of the building directly onto the ciclovia - a paved veloway dedicated to walking and cycling which follows the beaches of the Recreio area for about 5 miles. (Because all beaches in Brazil are public, there is always a street between the building and the beach. But Eduardo's building is a very rare find in that you don't have to run in your flip flops dodging buses and cars across a major road to access the beach.) My daughter and I ran the ciclovia every day here and felt completely comfortable. We also enjoyed working out in the gym in the building. There are 2 treadmills, weight machine, free weights, and cycles. The equipment was new and good working order and we always had the place to ourselves.
Eduardo's apartment is great! It has modern, tasteful, sparse decor. You can open up the sliding doors of the living room onto the veranda and see only the ocean and listen to the roaring surf. The apt is located so that the view frames the sea and provides privacy from the nearby road and buildings. The beds are comfortable and kitchen is efficient. Another rare find is that the washer has a dryer setting (the typical European non-venting kind), which is convenient. The 2 full bathrooms are small but have good showers with plenty of hot water. We rented a car, which we parked in the underground, secure garage beneath the building. But we could walk to a good-sized grocery store, small simple shops and a few basic Brazilian restaurants in 10 mins. The numerous kiosks on the beach, 1-10 minutes walking along the ciclovia, serve everything from fresh juice, beer and cocktails to full meals of grilled fish with accompaniments.
Without a doubt this will be our new go-to place in Recreio!