We had a fantastic five days here. Brunello is a warm and extremely knowledgeable host - he gave us so much fantastic local information about sights, restaurants and bars.
The apartment itself is located right near Posto 9 Ipanema - the beach was a five minute walk away. At the same time, the location was much quieter than other parts if Ipanema, just far enough away from the noisier bars - though they're only 2mins away.
The apartment is exactly as it appears in the photos - we didn't think it was too dark as we just opened the window shades when we needed to.