BEWARE IF YOU TRAVEL BY CAR.
For work we needed to pick up some people at Lisbon airport, so we decided to spent a couple of nights in Lisbon before their arrival to enjoy a bit of the city, we looked at accommodation that offer parking information on their web so we could park the car for a couple of nights while we could do the visit walking or using public transport. This apartment was perfect according to their description, we also asked Michelle and Pedro about how easy was to park onsite and their replied was: “Hi guys, it is fairly easy to find parking around the block, so don´t worry too much”. We were happy with their response we didn´t worry about it, and on our arrival day we found a parking place on Rua de Mocambique, the same road of the Apartment, we didn´t see any signs of restrictions.
On checking off day we needed to be at 10 am at airport, while I was finishing packing my husband went to the car, to his surprise our car was not in the place we left it. My first idea was to phone Michelle for help but her immediate response made me feel helpless and upset, she told me off for parking with not ticket , I should know how cities work and it was foolish of me leaving the car in the wrong place, at that moment all I wanted was some support, in the end I gave Michelle the car registration to see if she could find information of where to go for our car. In the mean time my husband walked around looking for help and managed to find a local police, he came and explained to us that Rua de Mocambique road is a resident only parking area, it is not allow for non- residents to park and it is necessary to have a resident permit, but if you got down to next road, it is a different situation, it is a pay and display blue parking zone ! The policeman told us where to go for our car. When we were in the taxi we also received a SMS message from Michelle giving us the same information, something we appreciated. After paying a big fine of 180 euros we had our car back, drove to the airport and managed to arrive at 10am, still shaking but relieved we received our guests with a bit smile as if nothing had happened.
Our advice to Michelle and Pedro is not to assume everyone knows the parking rules of the cities and even less the differences between streets. Please put more information about parking, there was not mention or advice where to or not to park, prices etc.
The accommodation is fine but the main reason we decided to stay was for the parking.
I didn´t work for us, but we wish Michelle and Pedro all the best in their business.