Our family of 4 stayed in Luis's apartment for a full month, and it was great for our needs. We especially liked the neighborhood and location. There are multiple grocery stores that are very close, several tasty restaurants (FishTail was our favorite) and even a small underground mall with a nice movie theater and a food court at Campo Pequeno, a short 5-7 minute walk away.
This apartment is a little outside of walking distance to most of the main tourist destinations, but we preferred this. You really get a feel of what living is Lisbon is like in this neighborhood. For our tastes, the touristy areas are fun to visit, but staying in them would lessen the experience.
To reach the touristy spots, we used Uber all month long. It is VERY affordable in Lisbon. Usually around $5 each way. For a family of 4, this was cheaper than any other option. If you prefer public transportation, everything you need is within a short walk.
As for the apartment itself, it has everything you need. The kitchen is well-stocked. There's an instant hot water heater that is super nice. There is a TV with multiple channels in both Portuguese and a few in English. The building is quiet and you hardly ever see the neighbors.
Note that the apartment is on the top floor and there's no elevator. We appreciated the exercise, but if anyone is your group will have difficulty going up multiple stories of stairs, this may not work for you.
The only other part of our stay that was slightly less than ideal is the main bedroom's bed. I'm not sure if it's the frame, the mattress, or both, but one side is quite uncomfortable and the other side is only slightly better. It's probably not a big deal for a few nights, but a full month was a long time to sleep on this bed.
Overall we thoroughly enjoyed our stay and our host Luis was exceptional! He was very helpful, quick to respond to a few messages that we sent his way and is a very nice man. You'll have zero worries when it comes to your host.
One last note for those with children. If you want a night out without the kids, we had 2 excellent experiences with a service called Priovida dot com. Our kids LOVED Marina, a young college student who spend the entire 4-5 hours playing with them. In fact, they loved her so much they begged us to go out again and have her come back... so we did :)
Also for those with kids, here are our kid's favorite activities:
- Pavilhão do Conhecimento (an interactive science museum)
- Oceanarium (the best aquarium we've ever been to)
- Lisbon Zoo (#1 overall... we ALL loved this zoo. Especially the dolphin show)
- 2 Hour Sunset Sailboat Excursion (booked through AirBNB... amazing)