Positives:
Let me first tell you that the apartment itself is very cute and the ad does not lie, the river views are glorious. The apartment is old and has old finishings that add to the feel of the space, and location (Alfama).
Fatima and Paula were kind enough to leave a welcome basket, which we happily enjoyed.
The location is convenient enough. You have a local grocery on the same street as well as a few restaurants, wine bar, wine/liquor store etc. There is an excellent fado show on the street as well, which all 8 of us really enjoyed.
Negatives
There were a few hiccups that occurred when staying at this apartment. While some of these things are of no fault, they still added to our overall consensus of the apartment.
After staying just one night, one of the hot water heaters went bust, leaving us with only 2/5 working hot showers. The water heater also impacted the hot water in the kitchen that is in the same wing of the dining and living room which created inconvenience with serving food, cleaning, etc.
Keep in mind Fatima and Paula tried their best to help remedy the issue by sending someone immediately to work on the heater, but he was unsuccessful which caused some of us to be late for a tour we booked.
After realizing the heater could not be fixed, Fatima and Paula were generous enough to let us use the showers in the apartment below us which was vacant. Thanks for that, it did help but was still a significant inconvenience to our comfort.
We also had issues with the back entrance. The lock would stick not allowing us to open it always from the outside. Therefore we used the main entrance the rest of the trip.
The bedsheets are wickedly uncomfortable (I am not the only one who felt this way). Comforters were comfy but the bedsheets were not.
Living space is one single room, for two combined apartments. The place sleeps up to 14 but there is not enough space or seats to accommodate that many people. Enough beds, not enough seats. Dining table seats 8 comfortably, 10 at max.
Lastly the apartment is several flights up. Not terrible since we are young but not for everyone.
Overall I think there are many things the apartment holds of value and I think Fatima and Paula are great hosts that genuinely want you to have a wonderful time but we were definitely thrown some curveballs throughout the trip that did impact our satisfaction.
I’d recommend the place to others but only up to 8-10 people, not 14.