This apartment was very well located and was roomy enough to accommodate our party of four comfortably. The decoration was varied and lent the place some personality.
There were however many shortcomings that detracted from the experience. Some would be minor nuisances that wouldn't usually make it to a review (like the weird bathroom layout or the spartan-but sufficient-kitchen equipment). Some could be attributed to the age of the building (like the creaking floors and handles, the shower that only works on the highest pressure or the paper-thin structure that let the sound from the floor above in, very few (and weak) lights and power outlets (though there were power strips on most of these at least)).
Other issues were more concerning, as they were signs of bad maintenance and could even have had some safety consequences. Here is a "small" selection: The locks are so old that they can only be opened after jiggling them back and forth. There were ants in the kitchen and some rooms. Some light bulbs were not working. We found hairs in towels, and a bag of clothes from previous guests. A look at the freezer and the washing machine made us decide against using them at all. The toiletries provided were insufficient for a group of four.
We repeatedly tried to contact the host before and during our stay, but mainly got no response. Only on the second-to-last day, an answer came (and only in Portuguese, despite our communication being in English so far): they would be there that day to take care of the light bulb (which they did). They would not do anything about the ants problem.