I stayed at this apartment for a month in September 2022. I had booked it although it was new and had no reviews but I checked Innkeeper's other reviews and they seemed really good. The price was ridiculously high and my expectations were in line with that.
So let me start with the good:
- Fabulous location. A 6 minute walk to Picoas metro, and plenty of bus stops all around within two, three minutes walk.
- Quiet. The apartment is on the 5th floor and very quiet. It looks out onto other buildings but they are not right next to your windows/balcony and although you can look into everyone's homes and they can (to an extent) look into yours, I haven't found that to be an issue. The windows have electric blinds, which can be a god-send when the sun shines full-on into the apartment and can somewhat block the outside sounds if you want to have an open balcony door.
- Proper air-con. This was the best feature of the entire apartment. There is one unit in the living room and one in the bedroom (each has its own remote) and it saved many a day where it was too hot and humid to bear. It is quiet and cools/refreshes the place down very quickly.
- Comfortable bed/mattress/sheets/bedding. Basic IKEA, don't get me wrong, but it was all comfortable and I slept well (bring your own pillow if you are picky about pillows. I was very grateful I brought mine!)
- Comfortable sofa.
- Large TV/good internet/wifi connection. Plenty of TV channels if that's your thing, even the option to sign in to Netflix, YouTube, etc. Wifi worked perfectly.
- Small kitchen but has most appliances you would expect (toaster, kettle, coffee machine) and a nice big fridge/freezer.
- Innkeeper was flexible with the check-out and I appreciated them letting me check out later in the day to accomodate my schedule.
Now the "could have been better":
The apartment was missing basic things I would have expected to be provided as a long-term rental:
- there was only one set of bedding and one set of towels. Yes, there was a washer/dryer (and a drying rack for the balcony outside which I've always used) but no washing detergent/liquid.
- there was an oven, but no oven gloves.
- there were a dishwasher but only three dishwashing tablets.
- only two toilet rolls were provided for a month-long stay and no kitchen towels (paper or fabric).
- no oil, salt or pepper.
- only one cleaning sponge, which I used in the kitchen. Nothing for the bathroom, which I had to clean with the kitchen towels I had to buy.
- no duster despite there being so much dust everywhere as there's construction going on all around.
Again, these are not deal-breakers but if you are looking for a well-stocked, thought through place to stay, this setup will disappoint you (unless they listened to my suggestions and have in the meantime provided all the above).
And finally, the bad:
- I arrived at 8pm on a Thursday to find one of the balcony doors in the living room off its hinges, propped up against a wall inside the living room. This did not get fixed until 6 days later and responses to my frantic messaging here on the site did not get a response until I finally got someone on the phone on Saturday.
- The day after arrival I realised that there was no hot water in the bathroom, one of the taps in the bathroom sink was removed and the toilet was leaking. When I got someone on the phone on Saturday, they promised to send a plumber on Monday to fix everything. Nobody showed on Monday nor on Tuesday whilst I spent the entire afternoon staying at the apartment waiting for them.
- Two weeks into my stay, the bathroom issues had still not been fixed, I had wasted many days sitting in the apartment waiting for plumbers that were promised but never came, but the team at Inkeeper at least understood my frustrations and explained that the issue was with the building company who needed to send the plumbers and they had a hard time getting a hold of them. Innkeeper then offered to refund me some of the money, which I appreciated.
- Four days before I left, the plumber finally came and fixed the hot water issue, though the toilet leak was still there by the time I left.
- The Innkeeper communication was not the best. I probably spoke with/met about 10 different people in the month I stayed there and whilst they were all lovely, getting responses would totally vary, depending on who you spoke with. It just left me feeling like I couldn't rely on their help when needed. Might be a cultural thing, of course, I do realise the Portuguese are very chill and relaxed.
Overall, if you take all the building issues away (which presumably will be gone eventually), this apartment is really a great place to stay.