I would not recommend staying at this Airbnb for younger females or families. Unfortunately, it is an unsafe neighborhood and the landlord is not forthcoming or helpful when dangerous/violent events occur.
Myself and two other early 20s females booked this Airbnb for three nights from August 1st to the 4th, but ended up leaving the first night. We were told by the property manager that the neighborhood was safe. Walking back from dinner (sober) at about 11:30pm the first night, we were attacked by three men who started demanding money and pretending they had knives. This occurred about a 3 minute walk from the Airbnb.
Once they realized that we had no physical cash, they began to physically beat us, holding me up against a wall and kicking me, throwing my friend to the ground and kicking her in the head, and searching my other friend from head to toe. Eventually we started screaming at the top of our lungs, which caused the men to run away.
Unfortunately, no one in the surrounding houses came out of their flats to see what was going on, leading us to believe this was a common occurrence. We ran back to the Airbnb and decided it was unsafe to remain in the area.
We immediately informed the property manager, Rute, and the owner, Filipa, what had occurred. We cancelled the remainder of our stay at Filipa's Airbnb and requested a refund for the remaining two nights. We felt we had been lied to about the area and did not want to spend the remainder of our trip afraid to be outside at night.
While Filipa was sorry we had been attacked, to say she was less than helpful is an understatement. She first informed us that the property manager had been in the area around the time we were attacked and heard no screaming. It seemed she was doubting our experience. Despite us offering to pay for the first night and the cleaning fee, she refused to refund us for the other two nights. She has assured us that if someone reserved the Airbnb for the two nights, she would refund us (which of course, no one did as it would have been a same day booking).
After speaking to several locals, they informed us that the area within neighborhood that the Airbnb was located in was not safe. If you are considering staying here or in this area, I would advise everyone to stay in the city centre. We completed our stay at the Inn Rossio Hotel in the city centre and felt very safe.
Not only was this a highly traumatic and violent experience, but Filipa's disingenuity about the area and lack of understanding exacerbated the situation. We ultimately had to reach out to Airbnb Support, who were understanding and helpful.