This flat’s strength is its location: right inside the Alfama district, a warren of narrow streets packed with great and interesting restaurants, shops and people’s homes. You cannot drive to the front door, so be prepared to haul your suitcases uphill for awhile. It was easy enough, but uphill is uphill. At the time, our hosts were out of town, which can effect response time if something goes wrong. It is a lively area — which we loved — but it never got too loud or prevented us from sleeping. The flat’s main window opens onto a public staircase and lacks screens or bars. As far as we could tell, this is standard for the area. Upon our arrival, the flat was very clean and we found an AMAZING book of important information on everything: how to use public transport, important phone numbers, grocery store locators, places to shop and recommend restaurants and dishes to order. That book is quite the achievement and was super useful. This flat is a good value and staying there will give you an authentic Alfama experience.