Our stay was a bit of a mixed bag, but we'd recommend it for the right people.
First the pros:
- Juan was great: very communicative and friendly.
- Location: close to the river, Praça do Comércio, nice restaurants, etc.
- Spacious: an abundance of space for two people; even four should be comfortable
- View: nice, unobstructed view of the river and riverfront
- Kitchen: full fridge and freezer (though we had to defrost it overnight to get the drawers to open), dishwasher, washing machine (we did laundry a couple times!), plates, glasses, and more
The drawbacks:
- Street noise: the shutters blocked the noise well, but it was too hot for us (even in September) to close them all night. It sounded like the highway out front was going through the bedroom. This wouldn't be as much an issue in the winter.
- Internet connectivity: despite reseting the router a few times, it was almost unusable. We mostly turned WiFi off on our phones and used cellular data (which didn't penetrate the thick, old walls especially well). Additionally, the router is using settings that aren't considered secure (your phone will complain about it).
- Bathroom fixtures: the toilet seat wasn't securely attached and shifted every time you sat down or moved, risking an unwelcome accident. The shower head was similarly loosely attached and would spin in circles if you turned up the water pressure and didn't have it at just the right angle.
- Old TV: we'd hoped to connect our computer to watch some of our own stuff, but the TV apparently pre-dates HDMI ports!
The tradeoff between heat and road noise meant that either way, we didn't sleep great here. And the intermittently/slowly-working internet was very frustrating until we gave up on it and stuck to cell service. But especially given the affordable price relative to a hotel, the space, location, kitchen, and other pros left us feeling "okay" with our stay. I'm hopeful the bathroom fixtures will get some attention and the internet service will be upgraded leaving just the heat-vs-noise issue which you can weigh for yourself. If it's cool enough to keep the shutters closed and/or you're okay with loud street noise, we think you'd enjoy your stay.