Cynthia is an incredibly thoughtful and attentive hostess. Within days of booking her apartment, she was already sending me links to great restaurants in the neighborhood and interesting places to visit. She met us at the apartment and made sure we were comfortably settled, and she remained at-the-ready with whatever questions or needs that we had throughout our entire stay.
The apartment itself is just a few minutes' walk from the beach, and a number of restaurants, supermarkets, drugstores, etc. are on practically every corner. Cynthia's apartment is lovely - perhaps a bit more dated than the pictures suggest - but it's clean, comfortable, and was the *perfect* home base for our 5 days in Rio.