My partner and I had the pleasure of staying at Eduardo and Raimundo's place for 4 days. They are very kind hosts and were keen on helping us with information about Rio. We felt very welcomed to their home and to Rio!
The apartment is beautiful and it's located in a prime location, close to Santa Teresa and Lapa. As long as you are okay with stairs and cobblestone, there are many things that are walkable distance. If not, there is public transportation, and Ubers work well in the area. We did a lot of exploration by foot and we felt safe in the area.
I would definitely recommend staying here and I would most definitely stay here again on my next visit!