What I wish I knew before booking, or instead of booking
The 2 bedroom that is not a 2 bedroom. Pedro feels a bedroom with a single bed + a queen bed in the open living room/kitchen/entrance constitutes a 2 bedroom. My view is pretty simple, when renting a 2 bedroom apartment space should include 2 bedrooms defined by walls and a door. To my eye, in the listing photos, the queen bed seems like a separate room. AirBnB agreed; refunded my stay. Pedro hopefully updates the listing for future guests. *Update: I see the listing description has been updated to more accurately reflect the space. Welcome news!
Apartment’s main room provides limited natural and artificial light. The single bedroom gets great light, The kitchen doors, open to a small shared interior courtyard, get limited light into the apt. Overall I’d characterize this place mainly as a nearly windowless box. Maybe good for some people, but I prefer some natural light.
The crying game. Your next door neighbor is a daycare center, which opens for business around 8:30am. How do I know this? Thanks to the shared outdoor space in the back and opened windows. This is only slightly earlier than I’d normally wake, but the crying persists for quite a while. If you’re not an early riser or not a fan or crying and screaming kids just be aware of this reality.
The unit’s internet speed according to multiple speedtest.net tests over a 10 hr. the window on my laptop and my husband’s ranged from 40-55M downloads. Pedro claimed 150M speed for past guests, but that was not my experience.
Since we vacated early, we only stayed 1 night. During that night, construction hammering noise lasted well beyond 1am. Pedro claimed never having noise complaints, “Someone hammering at night? I have 3 more guests in the building and I have not received any complaints” and, “have been renting it as it is for over 4 years (and for two years with airbnb) and I have never had any complaints about it.” To the contrary, in previous reviews I see another guest complained about the noise only a week before we arrived. They wrote, “We also experienced loud construction noises nightly for 3 weeks (unrelated to the rental unit in all fairness) “ Pedro responded to this former renter in a similar vein; “​He complained of noises that no other guest had heard,”
Not all was negative. The location, for example, was perfect for us. Unlike slightly more central parts of Lisbon, this area wasn’t overly touristy. Within a short walk you can find a variety of local restaurants, shops, and grocery stores. If you haven’t visited Lisbon before this may sound trivial, but you can get to many places without climbing steep hills! Additionally Pedro was responsive and eager to accommodate. He showed flexibility allowing us an early check in. He helped with our baggage and patiently gave us a full tour, which included testing our entrance keys. The place was clean. Even when we asked to leave early Pedro understood our concerns and refunded us for unused nights.
Overall, this could be a good place for the right people with an accurate AirBnb description. The nighttime construction noise may be a temporary situation, but we feel rather than an attempted gaslighting of our complaint Pedro could have acknowledged that others recently gave similar feedback. Moving early was a big hassle and could have been avoided. Now that the listing has been updated, we hope nobody else will be forced to do the same.