We stayed at Axel's place for 7 nights - we are a couple with two teenagers and a 6 year old. The place was perfect for us. The house is actually at the beginning of a favela, but one of the better off favelas. We never felt unsafe, and we felt we were in good hands with Axel who was always available when we needed him. The view truly was magnificent. If you wake up at 6 am, you get to see the most gorgeous sunrise. The rooms were basic, but comfortable. Everything worked -- toilets, lights, fans, internet. There was fresh coffee, fresh bread and fruit every morning. The Casa is a short walk down to Santa Teresa which was our favorite neighborhood of all of Rio's neighborhoods -- laid back, less touristy, more artsy, very pretty. We even enjoyed midnight mass on Christmas Eve at the little church next to the favela. There was a stream of interesting French guests of Axel we enjoyed talking to. Axel is a tour guide, and gave us excellent advice on what to do and see in Rio. He arranged a hang gliding adventure for us, took us on a walk through a large favela, arranged cars and taxis for us when we needed. There were two drawbacks: first, for some reason, cabbies just don't like bringing passengers back to this area; and second, the favela got quite noisy most nights with loud music. Neither of these negatives were obstructions to a wonderful stay.