Ion's apartment is a fantastic place to stay! It's located on the western side of Santa Teresa, with views out over the Sambodromo. And there are cute little marmoset monkeys that come to visit at least once per day! The apartment itself is really comfortable with two separate beds - they are replacing one of the beds with a sofa bed soon so it'll sleep one more person.
More importantly though, Ion and his wife are fantastic hosts. On my first day here Ion drove me to the supermarket, and on the next day he made caipirinhas for me and my friend, and took us on a drive around Santa Teresa. It really made our Rio experience that more special to have a local showing us around! I would happily stay in Ion's fantastic apartment again!