Rafaella was terrific to work with. Though we never met her, she was responded quickly to all questions and let us keep some of our stuff in the apartment when we went away for three nights and then returned, which was so helpful to have as a home base for our long stay in Rio. The upsides: well decorated apartment, comfortable bed, washer, great location just 10-15 minutes from the beach, subway, groceries and good restaurants. There were a few downsides, primarily that we did not find the apartment quiet--though it is on a relatively quiet street, it is in a culdesac and I think the noise bounces off the tall apartment buildings and amplifying street noise and yelling. On Saturdays particularly we would hear music, cars, people, etc until early hours of the morning, so sleep was difficult for all of us. The bed in the tiny bedroom (which was tiny but cute; the whole apartment was in fact smaller than I had expected, though it was well appointed) is uncomfortably hard, so that plus the noise again made sleeping challenging. Finally, on the last day, while we were grateful to pay just a bit more for a later check out, the hot water which had been working without issue the whole trip would not kick on, and there was not time to resolve the issue before needing to shower and get to the airport, so that timing was unfortunate. Otherwise, the key pad entry is brilliant and I loved having three different coffee options (I personally like using the Italian Bialetti espresso maker). Overall we had a great stay at Rafaella's!