We are Americans that were stranded in Rio and we chose this unit mainly for the fact it had a dishwasher. We had spent a month at another unit without one and we wanted to upgrade, tired of having to do all our own dishes while sheltering during the pandemic. Upon moving in not only was there no dishwasher but we found (and I have photos of all), black grime on the kitchen and bedroom shelves; a cupboard door that fell off when opened; rusted out gas burners; broken refrigerator shelves; 2 ceiling lights out in the kitchen making it extremely dim in the evening; uncovered light switches and electrical outlets with exposed wires; three different closets and 4 drawers with dirty clothes from the owner; long black hairs and crusted toothpaste in the bathroom drawer. In addition, the unit is cluttered with countless nik naks that were covered with accumulated dust and a dozen old coffee table books strewn around that contributed to the pervasive musty and mildew smell of the entire apartment. I can’t attest to what the neighborhood was like before Covid19 but currently there is a homeless encampment between the building and the nearest grocery store. Going there requires navigating through people sleeping on cardboard, a strong urine smell and several panhandlers.
When we complained to the owner that we were deceived about the dishwasher, she said she had it taken out and “forgot” to remove it from the list of amenities. Besides, she said that people in Brazil don’t use dishwashers. She stated that she kept the lights out to save energy and as for the other items she responded, “Most people do not get bothered so easily”. Her solution was to have a contractor come in and install a dishwasher – not a workable answer for us sheltering during the global pandemic and being at high infection risk.