"The hotel is up the hill away from the madness of the beach and downtown areas, but still a 15 minute walk to the heart of Gavea and a 15 minute cab ride (download Uber or app called "99" before you go!) to Ipanema and Leblon.
Everyone at the hotel is friendly and helpful. The breakfast each morning is superb, especially when the monkeys come and join you. The pool is small but the hot tub is great (you have to ask them to heat it up 40 minutes in advance, though, and they shut it down...