IMHO keeping out the wrong class of criminals is good. Obviously I'm a fan of negras só I like the darker ladies I bring.
As for the food court at Av gastao Sengés 185 , the sushi is excellent, the pizza at borda e lenha (best is bacon with gorgonzola) in the thin crust is a big big winner.
It is a matter of taste.
If you're a 'city guy' like fukafmedig you live in lapa or copa -- but I don't like that packed apt living. At best I like a verandas sao Clemente at sao Clemente 114 overlooking bambina.
I don't want to lean out a window and see a packed city street and I don't like the foot traffic of criminal threats to protect from.
It'like miami as opposed to downtown New York or LA, which suits some. Including the top garota talent, which tells you something.
[QUOTE=Golfinho;2525449]Having just spent several days in Transamerica, some observations. First about AirBnB, in general: renting sight unseen, paying upfront, and no guarantee to extend if you like the place is not what you want from the renter perspective. In our case, apto 1207.2 wasn't the cleanest, and moldy, maybe about a Brazilian unrenovated 3-star quality, but it did have a balcony. Maid cleaning is a joke: leave a towel on the floor, they merely hang the wet thing back on the rack for you. The building itself as far as I know is comprised of one-room 'apartments' whose owners have abandoned the place and become investment landlords. Naturally in this scenario, the building degrades on the downward slope to slumhood. Worst is no restaurant, unless you want to subsist on pizza, and a hike to breakfast and other eateries which open late and close early. In the entire area are apartment blocks (and gated villas) a model of planning which achieves perhaps only the objective of keeping out the wrong color and class of people. OK, but you're here and have to make the most of it, which you can do by logging on to photoaccompanhates where you quickly discover scads of options, some a mere 11 meters distant. Too easy. And they're easy to spot, too: tattooed most of them, pierced some of them, decidedly not Brazilian tourist class all of them, they really stand out. Just say Hello, in English to any potential target, and you'll be marked and solicited as a client. Too easy. Soon you'll you'll have a wake-up, an afternoon, and a nighttime partner. I especially appreciated the midnight emails offering discount promotions and two-for-one specials.[/QUOTE]
