Simon was very easy to get along with and made every effort to meet my requests. The apartment is lovely as shown in the pictures.

A lot of people worried about the danger of being in a Favela, but I felt safe. The people in the Favela are rather friendly. I felt more in danger walking around the outskirts of the Lapa strip downtown or through Copacabana at night.

Only downside is the very numerous stairs to get home. Especially at night when the elevator stops running. There are a last 50 pretty big steps after the elevator to the apartment. I wouldn't recommend this apartment for the elderly, the injured or those with heart conditions. Otherwise after a few days of doing the steps you get pretty good at them. I usually don't even bother waiting for the elevator unless I have groceries to bring home as the wait can be long, especially in the late afternoon and evening.

I only planned on staying a month and extended to 3 maybe more. I wouldn't hesitate to come back to Simon's place. You can't beat the price/quality ratio, especially if you want a view, which is almost impossible to find in the city.