Short Version: If you’re looking for a Lisbon stay that’s a short walk to amazing food, markets, and transportation, Felicidade’s place where you want to be. Recently renovated, her stay is clean, comfortable, and everything works. Book it and prepare to enjoy yourselves.
Long Version: The attraction of Felicidade’s place is half the apartment itself, and half the location. The apartment is located in an older building, but the interior of the building has been completely redone. Open the street door and you’re in a modern entryway. Take the elevator to the flat, and once inside you’ll find a contemporary apartment.
Our arrival went very smoothly. Felecidade arranged for an airport transfer with her friend Sophia. Not expensive and well worth it. Nothing in Lisbon happens on time. Sophia was very flexible, accommodating the schedule changes. Also, many of the streets in Lisbon are under renovation, making traffic unpredictable. The best route from the airport to the town changes regularly. Sophia knew the best route and stopped right in front of the flat for us to quickly unload and meet our host. Our departure worked the same way. No worries, no drama.
Don’t rent a car, the streets are astonishingly narrow, and there’s no place to park.
Felicidade is a wonderful host. She met us at the door and walked us through the stay’s amenities. And, she brought bread, cheese, coffee and eggs to get us through the first morning without requiring a shopping trip. Her attention to detail and regular maintenance of the amenities helps a great deal.
The bedroom sports a large closet and a queen size bed. We found the mattress to be a bit on the hard side, just the way we like it.
The bathroom is modern. None of the plumbing issues (smells) typical to older Lisbon buildings. And, the shower head adjusts high enough for my tall frame.
The combination kitchen / dining room / living room includes a dining table for four and a large couch across from the TV. We enjoy cooking, so the kitchen got lots of use. Felicidade supplied the basics (olive oil, spices and butter), and there’s plenty of dishware and flatware. Enough to fill the dishwasher. There's also an oven. The water heater is in a cabinet above the dishwasher, making hot water at the sink instant, and quite hot. The knives were even sharp!
There are air-conditioners / heaters in both the bedroom and living room. The building must be well insulated because we didn't need them much, even though it was winter.
The internet is screaming fast. We measured 200Mb/s down and 50Mb/s up without our VPN, and 60Mb/s down and 40Mb/s up with our VPN enabled. The connection was rock solid for our entire stay. The television is hooked to a cable box with dozens of channels. Most of what we found was in Portuguese, but it didn’t matter to us. The world cup looks the same in any language.
There are interior shutters to cover the windows to block out the street noise. They also block the light, in case you want to sleep in.
Restaurants and cafes line the street in both directions. The Time Out market is 3 blocks away, adjacent to the morning fruit, vegetable and fish market. The tram, train, bus, and ferry terminal is another block further. Ask Felicidade for restaurant and market suggestions. There isn’t time to try them all. Buy your transport card at the train station and use public transport to explore the area. If you want to hit the tourist / cruise ship shopping streets, they’re a 15 minute walk to the west. More enjoyable, and beautiful, is strolling the riverside, just a 10 minute walk to the South.
Lest you think I’m shilling for the host, here are a couple of things we noticed during our stay. The bathroom could use some additional towel bars. The freezer is a bit difficult to open. And, the microwave takes some getting used to, unless you’re ancient like me and grew up with a microwave with dials, then it’s just nostalgic. Oh, and the stairs from the ground floor to the first floor are a bit challenging if you're carrying stuff. Take the elevator.
Next time we visit Portugal, Felicidade’s place is where we’re staying.