My wife and I and our two teenage children came to Rio for 4 nights and wanted an apartment in Leblon that was comfortable but also close to the beach. Beatriz’s 4th floor apartment (accessible via elevator) was perfect. The small room with a twin bed and a small private bath on the other side of the kitchen was a perfect space for my son. My daughter took the room with twin beds across from the master bedroom that my wife and I shared. My daughter had the hall bathroom to herself as the master bedroom has its own bathroom. The apartment is spacious with two living areas and a full-sized dining room table. The kitchen was very user-friendly, but we mostly ate out because of the number of great restaurants in the area (we were partial to Deli 43 and File do Lira). The one night we had friends over, we had everything we needed in the kitchen to host a great dinner party. Beatriz has fully and thoughtfully equipped the apartment to make you feel at home.

For check-in, the housekeeper met us at the apartment and, although she spoke no English and us no Portuguese, we communicated with her just fine. The ability to lock the key outside the door and use a code to access the key was extremely useful, particularly in regard to hitting the beach without even a carry bag. We just walked to the end of the block and across one street and were on the beach, between Post 11 and Post 12. The 24 hour doorman buzzed us in and out of the building without any problem.

In sum, Beatriz’ apartment in Rio exceeded our expectations, and I would highly recommend this rental.