Great condo in the heart of old-town Lisbon
There are many things we loved about this newly built, comfortable condo. Without a doubt, we would stay here again, and we debated how long it will be before we book another Lisbon vacation to go back. Despite our convenient and comfortable stay, there are a few things to note about the unit, and a few things that the host could improve.
First off, we stayed here for a full week, so we had sufficient time to utilize the condo thoroughly and come to a full conclusion that we just loved the unit as our home base. We had 4 people stay in the unit: we traveled as 2 couples, so the 2-bedroom layout with two bathrooms worked perfectly. One bedroom is slightly larger than the other bedroom, but both bedrooms were very spacious by European standards. We rented a car so that we could do some day trips out into the countryside outside of Lisbon, so it was a huge plus to have an underground garage spot reserved with the condo.
The host, Mafalda, was great, and she was very responsive and provided good information prior to the trip. When we added two people for the stay, she was quick to make the needed reservation updates. At check-in, Mafalda promptly met us at the unit for check-in. For us, this was nice, as it was a new country and she explained how everything worked in the unit and gave us some helpful recommendations. She was very sweet and helped my mother in-law with her Portuguese language skills that she was quickly learning.
The unit is great--very new, looks sparklingly clean, and high-end in appearance. The condo is nicely laid-out, consisting of a good-sized space for 4 people. Overall, although this is not unit-specific, we really enjoyed saying in a rental condo vs. a hotel. It was nice to have a full kitchen with all the basic needed items for meals. We also really liked having a washer dryer combo in the unit.
Regarding the beds, we found the beds to be very comfortable, not overly firm mattresses like some European hotels. We had no issue with resting comfortably in the beds. Also, the bed linens were nice and each bed had 4 pillows, although one set of pillows ran on the firmer side.
Other features:
The unit has metal shutters on its windows, shutters which I would think of as hurricane shutters. This is a nice touch as you can control the amount of light in the rooms, by closing the shutters with an easy-to-use switch. Also, there are 3 HVAC units, one for each bedroom and one for the living room, or zoned heating/AC. This heating arrangement is so nice, as you can have each room at its own temperature, heated more than the other space(s). The unit also has a lot of nice art and personal touches that make it feel more like a home and not like rental with everything from a big box store. Everything felt high quality. And to reiterate, we really liked the underground parking, which felt much more secure than parking a rental car on the street overnight.
The location is great: a quick walk to everything in old town and with easy access to transit.
A few things to note:
The location:
Note this is in the heart of old town, so you will hear people on the street at night. We did hear some people at night both on Friday and Saturday night. Also the roads are very small and narrow, so if you are driving be careful and consider the size of your rental vehicle and whether it will be easy to drive on the adjacent streets.
The other thing to note is that as of January 2020 construction is going on all around the building, including behind the unit, across the courtyard, the building next door, and the building across the street. We did not find this to be a problem, but found construction starts on weekdays each morning about 8:30 am -9:00 am. Don't plan to sleep in late at this unit on weekdays. We were up and often about to leave at this time each morning, so construction noise was not an issue for our group, for the most part. However, the loud drilling sounds and other construction noises would disturb someone planning to sleep during the day or the late morning on a weekday.
Also, one evening, a temporary, metal construction fence was clacking loudly all-night, when there was a strong weather system that moved through with a lot of wind gusts. This loud clanging sound did keep all four of us awake at different points one evening. Fortunately, the construction crew fixed the loose fence that had blown apart during the strong winds that blew through the city, the next morning.
Host Improvements:
Overall, the host was great, and the unit well stocked. However, there were just a few slight misses that we thought could be improved. First improvement: When we arrived, there was only one roll of toilet paper for two bathrooms, for four people, for a full week. Therefore, we had to go out to buy extra toilet paper at a nearby store. At this price point, we would generally expect more than one roll of toilet paper.
Second improvement: we believed there should have been more hand soap and laundry detergent left in the unit (note: we had plenty of dishwashing liquid and tab, and shower products).
Third improvement: it would be nice to have a baking sheet, and/or pans to use in the oven.
Fourth improvement: the book from the host says that a bottle of wine and water are provided for the guests. We did not notice any bottle of wine or water provided complimentary, so perhaps the host forgot these items?
Final improvement: we would also like to see the addition of a safe to the room to store passports