We (three people) were one of the first 5 to book this listing, there were no reviews and we received 20% off the listing price.
We asked Carla if there were toilet paper, towels and bed sheets (essentials) - which were mentioned as missing on the listing and these were provided. Albeit just one roll of toilet paper and one towel per person for two weeks. There were chocolate eggs and 'esses' (portuguese traditional shortcakes) left for us as a nice touch, being that it was Easter at the time.
We agreed meeting with Carla at the apartment at 11pm. They offered us later a 35 euro meet and greet at the airport to take us to the house which we didn't take. When our flight was late and we mentioned the possibility of being a bit late, Carla left a message as we were mid-flight that we would have to go very far to the managing office/shop to get the keys. In the end we were actually an hour early but it made no difference asking them to come and they just repeated no one would meet us at the apartment and we realized it's a company managing this listing and we were at no point actually speaking to Carla. Furthermore, we were made to wait at night in the middle of a street (at the address we were given there was nothing resembling an open shop/office) as a man came to give us the keys after waiting there for over 10 mins. This felt sketchy and compromising especially if you're traveling alone. We can't help but believe that we were made to think we should have paid for the airport shuttle service they had offered us earlier as this whole trip would have cost us a lot if we had taken a taxi. (thankfully we had friends in Lisbon to drive us there)
The apartment is close to downtown and just above Santos making it easy to grab something to eat no matter what time of the day or night it is. There are convenience stores nearby and open during the day helping you keep stocked up.
The apartment has been recently refurbished though with the cheapest of materials and furnishings. The crockery is not microwave proof, the bed frame is too weak to sit up against, the bed sheets and pillows are the thinnest against a hard mattress, and we found the couch cushions to be the better option.
There are no towel racks and there's nowhere to put the toilet roll other than the floor or by the sink. The shower splashes a lot outside and will quickly soak a towel on the floor - keep a towel at the ready for that. The coffee maker isn't very good. There are no curtains and since the apartment is on ground level, you can't open the shutters without losing all privacy. There are no brushes, brooms or mops to assist in any cleaning you might need while there, though they offer you a 40 euro cleaning service after a week. Another additional service we didn't take.
The apartment doesn't have the electricity capacity to run the utilities at the same time. If you have three appliances on at once, i.e. if you have used the hot water at all (the boiler will turn on automatically) and if someone is cooking or the washing machine or dryer is running - it will trip the fuse box, leaving you in the pitch black. (Keep your phone near by to use as a torch).
Finally this place could easily be better with some improvements like better crockery, appliances, furnishing and if the electricity issue is resolved.
It's not like we didn't have a pleasant stay but we would trade paying a bit more for better conditions than having to deal with all these issues.
This place might be 3 to 4 stars if it wasn't for the absolute disgrace of having us find our way across town - 10 km further away from the place we were staying, at Cruz Quebrada to pick up the keys.