My husband and I traveled to Brazil about 2 weeks ago and split our time between Sao Paulo and Rio. We wanted to have a more local experience and opted to find an Airbnb while we were in Rio. We did some research and thought that Santa Teresa seemed right up our alley. Josy was extremely helpful during the booking process and offered up plenty of information regarding the area.

The drive took longer then expected and we ended up arriving close to 9pm our first evening. The apartment was quite difficult to find because it's not on an actual street but on an alley between streets. We were walking through the alley way when we finally did stumble upon the street number and managed to get in just fine with the help of the caretaker.

Once inside the apartment we were shocked at how different the apartment actually was from the pictures we had seen. In the listing there are 54 photos (roughly?) and about half of them are of the actual apartment space that you get with the rental. The 2 bedrooms were both stark and the linens were laid folded on top of the bed (but after seeing the dirty mattress, I would not have been able to sleep on it). In the photos there are 2 different kitchens and the one in this area was minimal. My husband used the restroom where the toilet was leaking from underneath. From the den area we could hear ever word of the television that the caretaker was watching. Upon closer inspection there was only a slotted door separating our apartment from the remainder of the home. I think it would be beneficial for potential renters to know about the close proximity to other people. Pretty much ruined our idea of a romantic vacation in Santa Teresa.

Before even bringing our bags in we decided that in an effort to not ruin our trip to Brazil we would book a hotel. All and all we were probably in the apartment for about 15 minutes, just long enough to book a nearby hotel.

I have since followed up with Josy expressing our experience and asking for some sort of refund seeing that we did not use the space (offering of course to pay for the preparation of the place/cleaning/service fees) but she refused. We have since filed a claim in the resolution center so Airbnb can intervene.

We absolutely love Airbnb and have had fantastic experiences, even booking our wedding venue off of the site! I was disappointed that this didn't work out, we would have loved to have had a more authentic experience but instead ended up at a nearby hotel. Please be warned, you should ask Josy specifically which photos are accurate and find out if she or anyone else is in the other space, it will definitely affect your trip!