The location is great--very convenient for walking around to see the sights in town, and very close to a metro stop. The space is lovely and had everything we needed to make our stay comfortable. Great views of the city (currently with construction cranes nearby, but that won't be forever and didn't take much away from the beautiful sights). Gulls were a constant presence and did make their gull noises, but I'm not sure how far from the river you'd have to go to get away from them--and it was definitely nice to be within a 5-10 minute walk of the Ribera. We loved having the simple kitchen for meals when we weren't sampling the delicious foods of Porto. The walk up to the third floor was not bad, and worth the views and privacy. This is a wonderful base for exploring Porto!