I don't sleep on flights, and the red eye I took to Lisbon was no exception. After some poor experiences historically with check-ins, I sent many messages communicating my flight and various points so that Manuel would be there. Unfortunately, he chose to ignore all of my messages that morning until I called him in a panic about 10 minutes away from the house. He apologized at that time saying that when he's on his scooter, he cannot reply for the 30 minute ride. However, I had messaged him quite a few times outside that 30 minute window over a span of a few hours at least. It would have been great had he chosen to respond to at least one of my messages with something like "hey, thanks for the updates! I'll be there to let you in." or simply "Okay!"
Regardless, when I got there he was there and waved me up. I'd warned Manuel in advance that I would be exhausted and want to go to bed immediately, and was a bit disappointed when he started in on a full welcome tour complete with descriptions of restaurants and instructions to water his plants. That information should probably be in a guidebook and not monologued at weary travelers, especially ones who have communicated their tiredness.
A couple days later I asked via message for clarity on the plant watering instructions ("Which plants should I water and when?" and here's a portion of response I received: "The one outside when you remember just put a bit of water on her." Needless to say, communication and clarity is not Manuel's strong suit.
In the same vein of communication, Manuel chose to ignore the messages I sent on my day of departure. I had messaged "The dishwasher is running and there’s laundry in the hamper including the top sheet" (both of which were unrequested but I thought would be helpful/respectful) and would have expected someone to say "thanks so much! you didn't need to do that!" etc. Silence.
My examples thus far have largely been about room for improvement for my host, and rather wordy so I'll leave some shorter notes below on the apartment etc.
- the balcony is the smallest balcony I've seen; think of it as a bench outside.
- would not come here in the high summer; there's no AC and it was not comfortable in the heat.
- the sofa bed pulls out (no instructions were provided); pull the bottom portion of the sofa from the front. that mattress comes up, so you'll raise it up. in the bottom bedroom drawer you will find two sheets. also under the bed there are two white boxes, one with a blanket for the sofa and the other with two extra pillows for this. the blanket smelled awful; hopefully it's been washed properly since.
- solid space over all, minimal noise
About the Area
- solid, reasonably safe, near a tourist attraction (a trolly car)
- Manteigaria is very close, be sure to visit for Pasteis
- Lupita is a solid lunch option for authentic italian pizza
- Tricky's is an excellent spot
General Tips
- Do not pay more than 20 euros if you're taking a taxi from the airport. Ask for a receipt if they say that, and always make sure you can see a meter running. They love to rip off foreigners.
- When ATMs or POS machines as whether you want to pay in Euros or your home country currency, always select Euros. If you give an ATM the chance to "convert the currency" you're taking a 5-10% uncharge.
- Always carry some electrolyte packs in case of food poisoning.