Dreamiest boutique hotel in the bohemian neighbourhood of Santa Teresa that looks like it’s beautifully falling apart, set on top of a hill with the best views of the city.Set in a beautiful building in the super central neighbourhood of Botafogo (between downtown and the beaches of Copacabana and Ipanema), this is a design hostel at its best and has both dormitory and private rooms for whatever your budget.I’m such an Airbnb fan and found great, well priced apartments all over the city. Good neighbourhoods to stay in are Santa Teresa, Ipanema, Botafogo, Flamengo, Lapa, which all offer something a little different.Bar Do Minheiro. The owner used to be a close friend of Jean-Michel Basquiat and Andy Warhol so there is great abstract work dotted all around the bar and it makes for a cute artist hangout. It specialises in simple, traditional food. Order the pastéis de feijão, a cake made of beans, and inhale one of the best caipirinhas in town.Fat Choi in Gloria is a Brazilian-Chinese restaurant that somehow just works. Try the porco bafasso, a pork shank marinated for 12 hours in wine, saffron and coconut milk.If you’re going to have one ball out meal, make sure it’s at Aprazivel in Santa Teresa. The restaurant is pretty much a giant tree house that looks out over the city. And you must order the heart of palm (a vegetable harvested from palm trees) in butter sauce. I will never stop dreaming about it for as long as I live.