Gonçalo's home is in a perfect location, right in the heart of Alfama, and provides endless opportunities for wandering the tight alleyways and getting lost. The suite has character and all the basic amenities--the balcony is an awesome bonus.
Gonçalo was helpful and timely in his communications with us, and also helped us out with a very early morning ride to the airport--thanks again!
It is worth noting that at the time of writing, the host lives in this one bedroom apartment, and you will be sharing it with him (he is also working from home, so is there full time). He sleeps in the bedroom, and we slept on the futon in the living room, which allowed him to close his bedroom door to give us more space/privacy in the rest of the apartment (he did give us the choice of bedroom or futon). Gonçalo was quiet and respectful, and clearly going out of his way to try and help us feel comfortable in his home despite the small shared space.
However, we were not expecting this arrangement, as the listing does not detail any aspect of this except the tag of "shared room", but nothing in the description alerted us to any of the details. At the time we booked, all reviews were prior to COVID when guests did book the full private apartment so also led to our misunderstanding.
We did feel a bit duped, as if we had known, would have selected a booking better suited to our needs--however, the experience was more comfortable than we initially expected. We do feel these details should be more explicitly communicated in the listing details to allow potential guests to mitigate the potential discomfort and to set appropriate expectations.