Location was a top priority for us, but not knowing Lisbon, it was hard for me to pre-determine if this was a great location or a terrible one as it's not exactly Chiado, Bairro Alto, or Waterfront, but in between— which could mean it's dingy or seedy or not accessible by transportation, or could be a nice spot with great access to everything—and I didn't want a place that was unnecessarily uphill or downhill from our daily activities. This turned out to be perfect on both counts. We were in a safe, well-lit neighborhood, but also in a lively area. We were a few steps (literally!) from the Chiado, Time Out Market, the train station and metro station, waterfront area, the Bica funicular, 24-hour grocery, and Pink Street and a short walk from Bairro Alto miradouros and Placa Comercio.
The apartment stretches from the front of the building where the living/kitchen/dining area is situated, down a long narrow hallway to the back where the bedrooms are clustered. The front faces a somewhat busy area, including some late night spill out from clubs but also has a straight shot view to the river. The back is very quiet and the view is of a courtyard below and pretty residential buildings rising up the steep hill that backs the apartment. We opened all the windows during the day then closed the front ones to sleep so that the only sound we heard at night was the early am crowing of a rooster— which we thought was fitting since the rooster is a Portuguese mascot.
Beds, pillows, sofas were quite comfortable. The apartment was amply supplied with bath products and tp for our group of five, one-week stay.