As a American global traveler and someone who has lived in Europe, I am accustomed to the European lifestyle. This was not my first trip to Lisbon, but my first Airbnb in Lisbon. I was unfortunately quite disappointed.
The pros: The flat is centrally located on a back street off a main road. Communication was slow to start (three weeks to acknowledge reservation) and then steady upon arrival.
The cons: The listing says, "Central, stylish and comfortable." I found only the central location of this statement to be true. The entire flat had hard wood chairs, including the kitchen table, outdoor area and bedrooms. The desk in the master also had a hard chair. The flat is more of a minimalist style, with the basic necessities. There is no "living area" it is a kitchen table. So, for those looking to kick back and read the local tour book or novel, it would have to be done in bed.
The kitchen had basics for cooking and should not be considered for long-term rentals or those wanting to cook more than small meals. My biggest frustration was the "quaint" street the property is located on. While it is not open to cars (foot traffic only) there is a tremendous amount of people that use this cut-through daily and especially (loudly) on weekend nights. It was not uncommon to hear people shouting and partying after 1am. Finally, an unfortunate water leak within the flat proved too much for us. While Daniel notified us of the work, I was not expecting a gaping hole in the wall or the pungent smell of mold. We notified Daniel and he offered another of his flats. This was a step-down from the current flat, so we politely declined, checked out early and went to a nearby hotel. It was quite surprising how quickly Daniel was angry and told us to "stick with hotels" that we weren't cut our for Airbnb. Also reported to company.
Daniels flat is listed as "Business Travel Ready" which Airbnb says must meet the following criteria:
Wireless Internet
A laptop-friendly workspace
Self check-in (this includes a key lockbox, doorman, keypad, or smartlock)
A smoke detector
A carbon monoxide detector
Essentials (toilet paper, clean towels, and fresh linens)
An iron
Hangers
A hair dryer
Shampoo
Self checkin, carbon monoxide detector, essentials (one towel per person) and shampoo were not available. I have reported this to Airbnb.
While this the water leak was an unfortunate circumstance, the response and behavior of Daniel was unprofessional. We have submitted to Airbnb for a 1 day refund for the inconvenience and relocation (which he denied) and are awaiting response.