We really did enjoy our stay in the Alfama! There were things we really liked about the apartment itself, and others we felt were disappointing. The location is amazing. It’s bustling with activity during the day, but at night the neighborhood emptied out almost completely and was very atmospheric. If you are there for the feasts in June, you’ll be right in the center of the action. We also feel that the space is set up well. We were two people and were very comfortable in the bedroom areas. The shower is great! Good pressure, lots of hot water, good ventilation. The smart TV came in handy too when we had a quiet evening in. There were plenty of towels.
The photos and the reality of the apartment, however, don’t match. It seems that they were take a long time ago and since then the place has become a bit worn out. There was no tablecloth (no wine on the table), the sofa was discolored, stained, and drawn on (by a child, it seems), the coffee machine was missing the drainage grate and the short coffee function didn’t work correctly, the bathroom vanity was coming apart. In general it feels like the place was not very clean. The stairs and cabinet interiors were dusty/dirty, our feet were black on the bottom after walking barefoot in the place for afternoon. In the entryway, there were a number of burned out tea lights in a dingy nook, and old mail scattered about. That would be easily remedied!
Lastly, I didn’t feel that “home away from home” feeling I usually have in the Airbnb’s I rent. A few weeks before I left for my trip, I emailed to see if the owners would leave a set of extra sheets for me. They said “no problem we will manage it.” When I reminded them closer to the date, they told me that the cleaning company would need to charge me another full cleaning fee to leave the sheets and that they couldn’t tell me how much because they weren’t sure which of their many apartments I was in - that was $56 by the way. When I got there, there were already two sets inside already and the owners appeared to have no idea.
When I asked if I could leave my luggage while the apartment was being cleaned before check in, they said no because guests were leaving - no problem. They did not respond at all however to my request for suggestions as to where to leave our bags, so I found someplace on my own and paid in advance for that service. Right before I left on the plane, they sent me a message to say “never mind you can check in early.”
None of this is disastrous, and all of it easily remedied. I hope the owners will attend to the state of the apartment and adopt a more attentive attitude to their guests because - as you can see from the old pictures - it has a lot of potential.