Not the best surprise...
I want to tell the facts and not let my mixed emotions override my review. There are just a few things that I would have wished to know, so maybe I can safe you some disappointment or help you with your search for the right Airbnb.
1) When we arrived at the address we could not find it. For half an hour we had to ask people where the house number was and nobody knew, it didn't exist. At that time we also couldn't reach Laura because there was a huge demonstration in that street where she was at. Which can happen, but for a moment there we felt like we got scammed. And of course, first time being in Rio with all your Bagage, trying not to get anything stolen, you don't want to wander around forever and just get into a safe space as fast as possible. So the number she gave us was incorrect and we felt really lucky when we just went inside a building and the Portier knew her and could help us.
2) My Personal big disappointment was when we arrived in our apartment. You can see on the pictures that it is small and we didn't expect much. However there was no mention of others living with us. We thought - naturally- that we would have our own apartment. However, the owner and another couple lived there with us. It was fine, Laura is a really sweet and kind person to live with, but we just didn't know about it! Apart from that we couldn't use the closet and our window is right at the street, which means it's kind of loud 24/7. We had our own bathroom, almost perfectly clean, but it was a small space and no room to leave our stuff.
3) Laura owns a very sweet cat which lives with her. I just felt it should be mentioned (because it is not in her add), for the people who have an allergy.
4) The location is great. Felt like a pretty safe area for Rio and you walk to the Copacabana Beach in 2 minutes. There are a lot of great restaurants and just 15minutes by foot away is the Ipanema beach which is even more beautiful. You can surf there, too.
5) Laura, the owner, is a very kind and friendly and sweet person. I don't think she speaks English though, luckily my boyfriend speaks Portuguese. We had a few nice chats with her and she helped us whenever we needed something.
--> Overall, we enjoyed our 2-night-stay with Laura, as soon as the first disappointment was gone. We thought the price is a little bit too high for what it offers.
If you don't have a problem with living minimalistic and sharing the small apartment with others, then you should be really happy staying here, as the location is really great :)