This wasn’t the worst, but it wasn’t the best, and I did hope for more given the price despite the location.
The pros: the location is obviously amazing, Roberto is a very, very nice, attentive AirBnb host and the doormen and everyone in the building is super nice as well, pretty good hot water situation.
The cons:
I’ve lived in New York, LA, Mexico and the DC area and I would say that this is not a place to book for long stays unless you literally plan to never be in your apartment and plan to eat out all of the time. (As a person who works remotely and occasionally likes to prepare food, this was an issue for me).
The reasons:
- The bed/couch are fairly uncomfortable and cheaply made.
- You can smell cigarette smoke from people next door and hear them as if they were in a room within your very same apartment. They’re not loud, or disruptive, but you will hear them.
- There is an occasional methane/sewer smell(not sure which?) which seeps up from somewhere in the plumbing and although isn’t the worst, wasn’t the most pleasant.
- I know this is common to the area, but the shower is super narrow. I’m a 240lb 1.85m guy, and moving about is just a little uncomfortable.
- When I arrived, I noticed that some linens (towels), surfaces (bathroom counter) and kitchen utensils were somewhat unclean.
- Though I was aware of how small the refrigerator was upon securing the rental, it is far too small for anyone who likes to cook or plans to store different kinds of food for a few days.
- Not much cabinet space.
- Finally, while I realize that insects are somewhat common in Rio due to the climate and things of that nature, there were ants that continued to filter into the kitchen (I saw them as early as my 2nd day there) and I just didn't feel like reporting it with everything else going on.