Let me first start by saying we loved Lisbon and the area the apartment was in. Alfama is a marvellous part of the city to be based in; beautiful buildings, winding streets, fado music, metro stops nearby, a great selection of cafes and traditional restaurants plus some trendy bars, a short walk to the beautiful viewpoint at Portas Do Sol where you can also catch the 28 tram.

We did appreciate being able to arrive slightly earlier to the apartment than the normal check-in time and before arrival I found communication with the hosts easy with a fast response times.

Unfortunately we were not provided with some things that the listing implies - a bottle of wine, guide book, coffee pods, oranges, kitchen drying board, iron (there is a board only). There were tea bags but no milk or sugar. In addition there were no oven gloves, tea towels or anything to actually get items out the oven. I see from previous reviews that nobody else seemed to be without things so we were unlucky perhaps.

We soon noticed that the kitchen had not been cleaned properly by the cleaner; there were quite a few ants attempting to eat the remnants of food from previous guests that had been not wiped off the kitchen surfaces. Further investigation revealed a dirty cooker, microwave and fridge. I should state the rest of the apartment (lounge, bedroom, two bathrooms) were very clean and the hosts were quick to come over and clean the kitchen themselves which we did appreciate.

There was a issue with the router on the weekend, we were unable to get internet saturday night and as a result no TV either (it is a internet based service). We were told by the hosts the next day they had to come into the apartment and reset the router as it served another apartment in the building, this concerned us somewhat as it proves a security issue for internet banking etc. It should be mentioned on the listing or at check-in that the router is not just used for that apartment only.

Overall the apartment suited us and was good value for money. All of the issues we experienced were minor but there were unfortunately quite a few, hopefully this will not be the case for future guests.