Vanessa’s place is stunning! I stayed there with my mother, and we each had our own room (Vanessa had the sofa made into a bed). Both rooms have TVs (not that you want to watch a lot of tv when you’re traveling, but it was nice to have some English language cable after traveling in Spain for 10 days where there was nothing in English in the TVs).
Vanessa has decorated it beautifully: clean, modern, airy.
The terrace/patio is really a lovely addition, and if it had been warmer when we were there (April), I think we’d have made much use of it for having a glass of wine in the evenings.
The whole apartment is very tasteful and had all the amenities we needed. Vanessa also left us a bottle of wine which we enjoyed.
Vanessa communicated very clearly with the directions for getting into the apartment, and we had no problems with any of that. She also sent us a email with info about her favorite places to eat, where to get groceries, etc.
There’s a cute (if pricey) little cafe just next door where you can pick up pastries and yogurt & things for your breakfast, or sit and have a glass of wine in front. There are many, many good options for restaurants in the neighborhood — including a sweet little vegan lunch spot called My Mother’s Daughter I happened upon (which is truly worth a visit, especially if you’re a Californian and not used to eating the heavy food you find around the Mediterranean, and want some really amazing veggies prepared with love in a very special environment), halfway between her place and the Calouste Gulbenkian museum.
If you’re a cinemaphile, you might enjoy the cinema museum which is literally around the corner.
The location was good for me, because it was in walking distance from the modern art museum, shopping, and the barrios closer to the shoreline (about a 40 min walk to the shore I think). It was a bit too much walking for my mother (who is 76 and is healing from a foot injury) so she would have preferred to Uber everywhere. If you’re not into walking you might do well to figure out the public transport system (which I didn’t bother with, but I saw metro stops nearby). The only time we called an Uber was after a late night of fado & dinner at O Faia (highly recommend!).
In all, I give 100% recommendation for this apartment. Thanks, Vanessa!