Staying with Ana and her family was really lovely. She has 3 adult children in her house but they are all very respectful and you dont feel crowded. Its the closest place that you can stay to go to Corcovado, you can even walk/run there depending on your motivational level. Everyday we ran along the road heading up to Corcovado as it is the start of the national park, its absolutely beautiful and lots of locals are out walking and running. We used the local buses to get to St Teresa and to the closest train station to get to Cococabana and Ipanema, they are all safe and it was our favourite part as we felt like locals.