Rented a 1 Bdr Apt from David Schneider (david@gringomanagement.com) for my first trip to Rio. Apt #2 is in a great location with a good partial oceanview. 1 block from HELP and Meia Pataca. 3 blocks from Alcazar Cafe. Fone Rio internet cafe, drug store and grocery store 1 block up Miguel Lemos. BBV and Bradesco ATMs about 1 block behind on Av. Copacabana. Safe box in the room and decent A/C. Bed needs to be replaced and small bathroom, but still very good.

i used david for my recent may/03 trip. rented room 702 at miguel lemos 8, half a block from help (yes, about 50 meters!).

great location, within 1.5 blks of kice juice (juices, açai, filet of chicken breast), internet, several laundry options, major grocery store, bobby and blame it on rio, and of course meia pataca, alcazar and help/terrace. i had no safe whatsoever, but my suitcase locked and there's a doorman... the a/c worked well enough, but then it wasn't summer, not sure how well it would do with summer extreme.

david is a good guy, very friendly, and very responsive. the room was adequate, nothing great tho (other than the location). the bed is avg, the bathroom avg, there's a good view looking out the window, and it was clean. there were lots of ants in the bathroom and sometimes in the sofa area, but then that's not so unexpected.

basically, i feel i got what i paid for, given what i know is standard for rio... thus, i recommend using david!

if you're booking:

make sure your water heater works, and that you know how to operate the pilot.

ask about construction, on the last two days of my trip i was awoken by hammering and very very loud construction noise at 9a with no option for additional sleep.

What, no one else uses David for an apartment? Or no one is providing any reports...

I again had David arrange for my apartment in Rio Dec/22-26 - Miguel Lemos 8 #903.

Very nice, remodeled (no wall in the center of the place like #702, #703). The water never got very hot, but the A/C cranked. Typical bed and sheets/blanket. Large refridgerator.

David is a great guy to work with, he promptly returns emails (he's in the USA so likely available by phone also), and in my experiences everything plays out exactly as one expects it to.

A strong recommendation here.

I agree that David's a solid guy. Very professional and prompt in answering queries.

However, I only occasionally use his service for a couple of reasons.
1) I think he is quite pricey e.g. $50 for #903 which is essentially a studio with a tiny bathroom.
2) He isn't in Rio so if something needs to be resolved you have to go through Bobby.

I agree that David's a good guy, unfortunately I had a horrible experience in one of his apartments. Rua Djalma Ulrich #49 (apt 604 I think) with Ocean View, Queen Bed, AC, Cable, Safe, 24 hour doorman sounded good but almost killed my vacation. This is a studio apartment that looked nice enough in the online photos, but had a lot of secrets. Number one being that the building is poorly wired. The power went out 4 or 5 times during my 8 day Carnival 2003 stay (at US$75 a day). I figured that maybe I had too many things on at the same time, so I got to the point that I had only the AC and one lamp on (no radio, tv, overhead light, fridge, etc...). The thing is that there was a electric hot water heater for the shower, and the power would sometimes go out when it cycled. Despite my Pimsleur CDs and other language study, the only phrase I remember from that trip was "A luz esta desligado" (The light/power's out.) Ask David if he fixed that problem since then...

Djama Ulrich #49. Apt.1202 Good 1 bed. apt. Great view. Water got warm. Fridge worked. Ac worked. Came w/ radio/Cd player and TV. Overall, a nice place. Located right behind and across from Help.R40 a night. Got a little loud at night but that's the lullaby of Rio.

I stayed on 8 Miguel Lemos in Jan 03. I think it was apartment number 402 or 403. Whenever you had the AC on and tried to take a hot shower or I should say warm shower the electricity would go out. The circuit breaker in the apartment did not work. You had to go downstairs and get the doorman to go to the basement and change one of those old fashion tube fuses before the electricity would go back on. It was a pain in the ass. Ever since I have always paid the extra money and stayed in a hotel. Maybe now this problem has been fixed.