Helena was a great host! She was quick to respond to any questions we had and met us at the agreed time with two beers and a panatone! She was very friendly and offered some great city advice. The apartment was lovely, with a small but usable kitchen, hot water in the shower, a washing machine (!) and a tv/stereo which we did not end up using. Our only issue was the bed was a little on the small size given my husband is 6 foot 6 inches! The apartment feels very safe with a door/security man that buzzed us in and a working lift so we did not have to climb the stairs with our overloaded backpacks. Location is great as others have mentioned- approx 10 minutes to walk to ipanama beach. The subway nearby was closed when we were there but taxis were easy to hail and fairly inexpensive. All in all, a great place to stay when visiting rio!