This is an excellent apartment. While Rio has had a lot of bad press concerning crime, this area is truly one of the safest areas in the city. There’s actually a police substation on the park, just across from this apartment. Being from the U.S., I feel very comfortable here, and around all around Ipanema.

1. Metro. First, the apartment less than a block (like 200 feet) from the metro entrance at Praca General Osorio. Anyone planning to visit for the World Cup or Olympics should be forewarned that the traffic in Rio is about as bad as its gets; so anytime you can ride the metro closer to the event (even if you have to take a taxi at the end), it’s the right thing to do.

2. Rooftop Patio. In the living room of the apartment, there is a winding staircase to leads to the private rooftop patio. From this patio you have a small view of the ocean, and you can also see the Christ Statue, (cristo redentor); it’s pretty awesome. (By the way, if you visit Cristo, be sure to take the cog train to the top, as opposed to renting a taxi to drive you up the to top. The cog train is half of the fun.) From the rooftop patio, you look down on Praca General Osorio, where the Hippie Fair is held each Sunday. I have spent hours up there just watching the city and people below. The patio has a table and 4 chairs; you can actually have dinner/drinks there.

3. Ipanema Beach. The apartment is about 1.5 blocks to the beach. Just. Whatever you do in Rio, you need to spend a day there. Sunday is the best day, as they close off one of the beach road lanes, and locals come out to walk/bicycle. Just watching the people and the vendors on the beach is a lot of fun. I’ve visited beaches all around the world, but I have never seen anything quite like Ipanema beach. There are prettier beaches other places, like maybe Hawaii or Thailand, but the Ipanema beach scene is much more energetic. The thing is, that Rio locals have a thing about the beach, so you will see the locals -- not just tourists. This makes it so much more interesting.

I first started coming to this apartment about 10 years ago. Just recently, the owner, Jose, started booking it through Air BNB. So, my experience with this apartment goes back a few years. It does have a flat screen TV and DVD player. Also, Jose has wireless Internet, which is pretty fast. We usually bring our Vonage phone and hook it up to the router, so that we can call the U.S. and people can call use easily. I work while on vacation, so it's critical for me to have reliable Internet.

Anyway, I do like this place, and I’d be pleased to answer any questions.