1) Location: Unbeatable, being 5 mins' walk from Ipanema Beach, and within walking distance from all the Ipanema boutiques and restaurants. The only thing which may put you off is that it's on a very busy street with a bar right below the apartment. Hence, it can get pretty noisy at night. That didn't bother us however, as we actually had no trouble going to sleep every night!

2) The apartment: Very cute and clean studio! It was ideal for my husband and myself. I'm guessing it's about 350-400 sq ft in size. It's a walk-up but it's only one flight of stairs, so it's not much trouble to bring bags up. Do note though, that there doesn't seem to be hot water (it's a Rio thing, everyone showers in cold water, especially in summer), but the water wasn't very cold, so we showered quite comfortably everyday. The bathroom might be a bit small for those who like spacious bathrooms but it was fine for us.

3) The host: Goya was a very considerate and sincere host -- she was unable to check us in at the last minute but managed to get her friend to do so. It turned out to be just fine (special shout out to the security guard for the apartment next door who let us wait in his apartment's compound for a while -- he was really nice!) She provided tourist guides and maps in the apartment (in English) which we found very helpful. She was also very responsive in the lead-up to to the stay.

We would definitely stay here again but since we live on the other side of the world, it will probably be a while till that happens, unfortunately...!