Joana was a great host and we loved her apartment but wouldn’t recommend it for anyone doing a long stay. The apartment was lovely but there were some minor inconveniences that aren’t ideal for a long term stay.
Pros:
The apartment had lots of space and the three bedrooms didn’t share any walls. It was decorated very well and felt cozy and homey.
The location of this apartment is fantastic! It’s right in the Bairro Alto area and is a quick walk to a lot of tasty restaurants and bars.
Cons:
The master bedroom bed is quite uncomfortable- my fiancé and I could both feel the springs and I woke up with a sore back. Joana did offer to bring a mattress pad that she wasn’t sure would fit the bed but by that point in time, we only had a few days left on our stay so wasn’t worth it. Also, not a huge pain but something to note, the bed frame on this bed is quite squeaky and will make noise even when rolling over from side to side.
Storage: The master bedroom had a great closet but no dresser or drawer space. The other bedroom with an en-suite had a coat stand and a shelving unit that you could put clothes on but no real closet. The third room (green with LX decor) had an IKEA dresser but no closet.
Construction was happening directly outside of our window for the full three weeks that we were staying there. It started directly at 8am and went on through most of the day. If you are planning on working from home, I would highly suggest checking ahead of time if there is ongoing or planned construction.
The main bathroom: The sink in the bathroom (shared between master and rest of the apt) had 0 counter-space. It is a circle sink with probably a half inch rim, so don’t plan on keeping any toiletries in there unless you are putting them on the floor. It also doesn’t have any hooks or shelves for towels or misc toiletries - there is a towel rack to hold a hand towel or shower towel, but is low to the ground so your shower towel will be touching the floor.
There was a toaster in the kitchen that blew the fuse box for the entire apartment any time we attempted using it, so definitely plan to be cautious with what you have plugged in.
The address given on Airbnb took us slightly down the street, so maybe verify ahead of time.
Lastly, the internet was fairly strong for the entire duration of our stay with 3 of us working from home. However, there were about 5-7 occurrences where the internet dropped altogether and we needed to hotspot. If you need to work from here, know the internet is strong but drops every now and again and plan to have a contingency plan.