I would like to write a constructive review and outline both the pros and cons of our stay here. My hope is it will ultimately help the hosts improve upon their sevices for future guests.
Pros:
- Nuno and his team (including Carlos) were very responsive and helpful in giving suggestions for sights to see and restaurants to eat at. They also responded quickly when we had questions about how to close the blinds and how to operate the washing machine.
- The location itself is not exactly in the centre but it is located pretty close to a metro station, or if you don't mind walking 25-30min then you can walk to the city centre (which we were totally ok with)
- Location is conveniently located next to 2 laundromats so you can bring your washed clothes there to use the dryers.
- For the most part, the airbnb had the basics required for a short stay in Lisbon, but could be improved upon to allow for up to a 1 week stay.
Cons
- The majority of the towels we were provided were stained. When we asked for additional towels that were stain free especially, we were told that "this is what happens when towels are old" and there wasn't anything they could do about it outside of their process of washing at high temperatures. If something is old and no longer in visibly good and clean condition, it is of the best interest of the hosts to replace and buy new towels. We ended up washing the towels ourselves to be sure (and no, the stains did not go away).
- The front door of the building needs replacing/repairing to provide a tighter building envelope seal so as to not let anything sneak into the building. Hopefully Nuno and the rest of the residents of the building can talk to the building manager about this.
- One of the steps up the staircase needs repairing; it is loose and could cause a safety hazard. Hopefully Nuno and the residents of the building can talk to the building manager about this.
- On our 5th of 8th day there, we had a situation that further made us drop our rating for the cleanliness category. When we told Nuno, he apologized but said "these things can happen in old buildings in one of the oldest cities in the world"... I would like to note that I have stayed in an airbnb before in the Alfama neighborhood (along with other airbnbs around Europe) and did not have these issues, so a building being old or a city being old is not a legitimate reason and is more of an excuse. Anyways, Nuno offered to provide cleaning services or to put us in a different airbnb he owned that had a last minute cancellation... However, after the situation we went through, we were uncomfortable and questioned the cleanliness, and asked for a refund for the remaining 3 nights. We also asked for compensation to make up for us having to last minute book a different hotel for the remainder of our stay in Lisbon, but he was unwilling to budge which we did not find very accomodating considering what we went through.
Other comments
- This is more of advice for guests: we advise you not to bring large luggage as you will have to bring it up the stairs, as noted in the listing.
- The location can be pretty noisy with traffic so if you are a light sleeper, bring earplugs at the very least.
All in all, I think there's potential for this airbnb to be better and I hope Nuno and his team will actually take these comments into consideration. I left out certain details in this public review so it does not ultimately hurt Nuno's reputation as an airbnb host.