Wonderful location, close to Lapa's parties and Cinelândia subway station to go to the rest of the city. Very beautiful walking area in Santa Teresa right there as well.
Drawbacks, long (but nice) stairs to reach the house, like climbing two or three floors on a regular building. The road to the house from the subway climbs up as well, so it's a workout coming back. Rio is very hot and the rooms don't have AC, so that was a problem for me. But Antonio was able to fix an old (and super powerful!) AC he has on one room, so the last half of the stay was very nice in this aspect.
The whole place and location is charming, with a nice view, you feel a bit apart from the city, though you're just next to it! The location and the aura of the place are really what makes it work.