This was our first experience of using airbnb and slightly anxious that it could be problematic arriving at a private apartment late at night from our flight from London. We shouldn't have worried! The doorman was looking out for our arrival, and called Daniel to meet us. Daniel showed us the apartment and how everything worked, and also arranged our return taxi in advance. Everything we needed was there, and having wifi was really useful. We appreciated having two bathrooms and having towels provided, and all basic consumables e.g. for washing dishes and clothes. The aircon was essential (it was almost 40 degrees outside). There was some noise from the street and from neighbours' aircons at night but that's difficult to avoid in a city. We felt very safe there, and the doormen were friendly and courteous.

The location is superb: Ipanema beach is very close, and there was a big choice of restaurants, cafes and the 24 hour supermarket all on the doorstep (some with special recommendations from Silvia and Daniel). One day we got up at 6.15 and were on Copacabana beach watching the sun rise at 6.30. We were able to get almost everywhere around Rio using Metro or buses starting from the square in front of the apartment. We'd love to visit again and would certainly recommend the apartment to friends.