We had a perfect week in Rio de Janeiro. Alessandro was helpful and answered all kind of questions quickly. The apartment was clean and looked like in the pictures. There are supermarkets, ATMs, drug stores, etc just in front of the door. The apartment really is just around the corner of Copacabana Beach! I would recommend taking a cab to Ipanema Beach tho, between Posto 9 and 10 (just around 14 Real$). The beach, surrounding, etc is much nicer than Copacabana.
Although it can be very noisy in the morning (we didn't mind since we stayed out late and got straight to the beach or visited sights in the morning), I can totally recommend Alessandro's apartment. Thanks again for everything!