We never met Ricardo or Carla. When we arrived, Jorge was there to check us in. I had hesitated to book the apartment because of the owners seemed fussy (remove shoes and other requirements and a later check-in and earlier check-out than most places), but then I decided that might also mean that they were meticulous with care of the apartment and their guests. Unfortunately, that was not the case.
Although their notebook says it includes instructions for appliances, it does not. Jorge said he would try to get those for us, but we never heard back. I sent a text asking for this again, but got no response from the owners. I decided to try the washing machine without instructions. When I pulled out the dispenser, which was black with mold, I saw that there are three possible slots for the soap. One was filled with a clump of dried up soap, so I could see that a previous tenant guessed incorrectly. I chose one of the other slots, figuring it had a 50/50 chance of being right. Unfortunately, when the 2-hour cycle finished I discovered that the soap was still in the dispenser. Instructions would be useful for heating/cooling as well. Jorge told us it was just a matter of pressing the up and down arrows on the remote to control the temperature. We quickly discovered that was not true as it pumped out heat, despite the remote being set to the lowest temp. If the original manuals are not available, just type out the basic instructions. Please.
Of greater concern was the owners non-responsiveness. They responded within minutes when I booked, but did not respond at all when I sent them a message while I was in the apartment. It was by sheer luck that I happened to glance at a note written in Portuguese and posted above the mailboxes. I wasn’t able to read the message, but saw the word “agua” and thought it might be important. I took a picture and sent it to Ricardo and Carla asking them if they could let me know if this would affect us at all. They did not respond. Finally, I decided to re-type the posted notice into an online translator and discovered that it said our water would be shut off completely as of 8 am on what was to be the day of our departure. This added a layer of stress we really didn’t need, as it meant our real check-out time was 8 am. We had to be showered and finished breakfast and washing dishes all before 8 am. All I can say is I’m glad I happened to see that notice and translated it. But why are the owners so unresponsive? Perhaps they just didn’t want to deal with it.
Thanks to previous reviews, we knew the apartment was under the airport flight path. On the first day, we amused ourselves with some plane spotting. The planes fly very low, so you can see all sorts of detail and they fly over, on average, every three or four minutes. This also means they are quite loud. It didn’t bother us, though we did have to occasionally suspend conversation until a plane had passed. Most of the plane traffic was between 5 am and 11 pm.
The apartment is in a very pleasant neighborhood with grocery stores, restaurants, and a nice square with lots of trees. Though it is not as convenient to the Metro as other locations, we liked it and we’re happy to walk or take the bus. The apartment itself is fine, though the showers was moldy and the toilet looked as if it was going to come off the wall. It is not particularly quiet, as in addition to the planes there is an aerobics studio directly underneath. It’s an OK place to stay, but there are much nicer places in Lisbon with more responsive owners.