Our family loved this beautiful penthouse duplex apartment right on Ipanema Beach. We lived in Rio many years ago, so we knew the location would be great, right in front of the best part of the beach, near good shopping and restaurants. For most people, this apartment would be perfect: nice big living room with floor-to-ceiling windows overlooking the beach, air conditioned bedrooms, each with its own bathroom. Considering the price paid, though, the owner should make some upgrades: provide beach towels, install a new water filter in the kitchen (it failed repeatedly), install all-new electrical plugs throughout the apartment (our cellphone chargers regularly fell out of the plugs), and they should completely re-equip the kitchen with new pots and pans, dishes, etc. (We ended up buying our own frying pan because their pans were scratched and gross). Most people don't cook when they vacation in Rio, but families do!