Filipa’s place is great, we were there some days and then we extended for four more days and we might even go back. The Principe Real area is really wonderful, a lot of shops, restaurants, and wonderful parks. You will love staying in this area, though some restaurants and shops are over-priced.
Filipa’s is a large apartment in an apartment house that is maybe three or four stories tall, in a block of apartment buildings that share a common set of back yards – so when you go out back you will see the other buildings. They are not too close though and the yard for this apartment is really nice, with a shaded and semi-fenced-in area, tables and chairs, very pleasant and hard to find in any city. We always felt the expansiveness of the apartment with the French doors to that wonderful shaded outdoor deck.
The single bathroom is fine but the shower is small, tough for this 6 foot 5” American to use. There is no exhaust fan nor a window in the bathroom and it needs more ventilation, we see this commonly in Spain and Portugal.
The kitchen is large, and the appliances good, but there is no microwave. Filipa explained that we cannot use the washer and the dishwasher at the same time, in fact there is a switch to choose one or the other. At one point the circuits went out in the kitchen and one of the BRs; it was a simple matter to turn it back on once we found the circuit box.
We found the apartment quiet, not completely so, but enough, and we slept well.
The apartment is one floor up from street level, and the street is not busy at all.