I have stayed in many Airbnbs and I hate to write my first negative review. I am surprised to write such a review because all of the rest of this host's reviews are good to excellent so I am hoping that my experience will be an outlier.
First, let me start with the good details: the location is great, you're maybe a 7-8 minute walk from the beach and there are lots of restaurants and shops nearby. Also, the unit was very clean (despite some ants in the bathroom) and looked just like the photos in the ad. The owner also included lots of artwork and finishing touches that make the apt unique. There is also a cool looking lock on the door that is high tech and easy to use so that you can enter the unit easily without needing a key.
Ok, now is the part that I do not enjoy having to write but I feel it's my responsibility to accurately depict my experience for future visitors. So when I arrived it was 90 degrees (33 Celsius) and VERY humid. Well, the air conditioner didn't work, which really made the experience miserable because I couldn't sleep and I was tired during my entire stay in Rio. I messaged the owner and he responded "you just need to plug it in" but when I responded that it was plugged in and it's still not working he never responded about this issue. Sometimes it would work for 1-4 hours but then would shut off or it would make extremely loud noises in the middle of night. Also the windows in the bathroom and kitchen don't even come close to remotely closing so when the AC did work, what little cold air there was would seep out and bugs could come in.
The other issues were related to safety. The plug for the air conditioner doesn't even have an outlet cover and the wall is exposed and every time you plug it in, sparks fly. Also, the ceiling leaked, - and it leaked A LOT. The cleaning lady was shocked when she came in to see when I was leaving. So there was a smaller leak right next to the bed but it accumulated into a huge puddle. However, the other leak was much bigger and was a safety issue in my view because the water was coming in a hole in the ceiling where there was a light and it was passing a lot of electric wiring, which seems like a fire hazard to me.
There were some other smaller issues but I am just going to finish the review here. I am not the type to complain much, like I would usually just ignore windows that don't close or ants in the bathroom but the air conditioner not working when it's 90 degrees outside or a leaking ceiling or safety issues are pretty important to me.
I am under the impression, but cannot guarantee, that the owner will resolve these issues. It is very clear to me that he put a lot of work into making this a "cool, trendy apt" despite the shortcomings and it is my understanding that Airbnb brought these issues to his attention and that he will resolve them. I did get about 50% of my money back, which I appreciate.
I hate writing a review like this because people are dependent on Airbnb to generate income for their families but I felt like I had to leave this review to make sure other travelers were aware of my experience. Fingers crossed that these issues get resolved soon!