First, the good. Despite being small, the apartment was pretty comfortable thanks to the modern conveniences like the A/C, the updated bathroom, and the kitchenette. The views from the front window are awesome and its location in the historic Alfama neighborhood are pretty cool. We enjoyed being able to make breakfast and coffee before heading out sightseeing. The A/C was also AWESOME after a day baking in sunny Lisbon.
Now, the not so good. The check in procedure was a little stressful for us because taxis can't take you inside the neighborhood where the apartment is, meaning we had to carry our suitcases through the windy paths and staircases of the Alfama. That's understandable given the historic nature of the place. The second issue, however, was that the apartment had not been cleaned prior to our arrival, even though it was two hours past the normal check in time. As others have noted, the staircase is extremely steep and the front door to the staircase is very tight, so definitely DO NOT bring any bags larger than a carry on. So in our case, we dragged our luggage upstairs (after dealing with the hall light turning off while we were trying to open the second key box) only to discover that the room was still dirty from the previous guest. So, back down the stairs we dragged our luggage to wait on someone to clean it. Mariana sent someone to clean it promptly, however, so when we returned an hour later everything was fine. Third, the bathroom does not really have a door. I mean yeah, there's this sliding glass door, but there's an inch gap around the door and the frame AND there's a foot gap between the top of the door frame and the ceiling. So... it's basically little more than a stall door. Fourth, the bed is a bit awful. It was like a futon mattress and it sloped towards the middle.
Anyway, even with those negative points, we still enjoyed our stay due to the location and charm of the area AND the saving grace of the A/C. If you're willing to put up with the realities of trying to cram a modern apartment into a historical attic, this place was great.