First off, let me say that Marcelo is a courteous and responsive host. He ensured my arrival went smoothly, and provided extra bed linen and sheets upon request (I was staying for several weeks, and there was only one set of each).

Unfortunately, the flat itself isn't great. When I arrived, it was very unclean, and appeared much more rundown than in the photographs. The floors in particular were filthy, and I spent the first day of my stay cleaning everything (I should mention that I didn't contact Marcelo regarding this at the time, because my girlfriend as arriving the next day, and I just needed to get the place clean).

The apartment gets extremely hot during the afternoon (there isn't even a fan, never mind A/C), and it also contains a kerosene heater, which smells very strongly. These two things combined make it quite an unpleasant place to stay during the day.

The area itself is reasonably convenient (a 15-20 minute walk to Santa Lucia metro), but it isn't the nicest place to be at night. The local brothel down the street probably doesn't help in this regard, and whilst I never personally felt unsafe, my girlfriend commented that she wouldn't want to be there on her own.