Hi Peter~~
Yes, I have to say I love the AppleTV-- I have three of them in my house. One connected to the Avant in our study, one connected to our main B&O system in the den, and one connected to a non-B&O system in our bedroom.
Video quality on the AppleTV/Avant is at 480p and seems at least as good as DVD quality to my eyes. It's a great video and audio server. I don't know if Apple offers its video rental service yet in your country, but if/when they do, it is very convenient and video quality is excellent, especially for compressed files.
Enjoy your stay and hope you let us know how you like the set up when you get home.
Todd