What we appreciated:
Arturo’s apartment is in the most incredible location in Ipanema if you’re looking for posh restaurants, ritzy shopping, and beautiful canopied streets just blocks from the Lagao and the Beach. The apartment is a one floor walk up (so be ready to carry you bags) and he had someone help to greet us with the keys (only spoke in Portuguese but very friendly over WhatsApp).
We were thrilled with the main bathroom - it very new and bright with a great shower and large vanity space.
This apartment would be great value for a larger group given multiple half baths and 3 bedrooms. As a couple, there was more space than we needed, and it was nice to have so many closets. Powerful AC and fans in the space as well.
What we were disappointed by:
We choose this apartment in part because many of the reviews stated that it was on a quiet street and the accommodations were better than expected. We were also looking forward to lounging on the hammock on the deck as pictured. Unfortunately, the street was prone to getting a long backup of angry traffic that would honk their horns all day long, making this a fairly noisy location in addition to sounds from other apartments and the street. No hammock either.
The space was a lot darker than the we expected from the pictures. Most of the windows are in the bedrooms, so the main living room doesn't get much natural light. The ceiling lights were all a bright, harsh cold white light, so we used only the warmer lamp lights to brighten the place (we are lighting snobs clearly).
Final thing is that some of the rooms were mustier than others. Not a big problem for us given we only slept in one bedroom, but we felt the rooms needed to be aired out to help with the smell.