It’s been very difficult to put a rating on this apartment since there were some really great elements and others that we were not very happy with. We will list them all below for future visitors to be aware of:
Pros:
- Beautiful balcony that is perfect to watch the sunset every evening. It was a very nice view over the city.
- Apartment was a large size and generally quite clean with everything we needed.
- We worked remotely for multiple days here and the internet worked perfectly, even for video calls.
- Apartment was centrally located in walking distance to everything we needed.
Cons:
- It’s quite difficult to check in to the outside door of the apartment if you don’t have cellular data in Portugal. It requires you use a website on your phone and Wi-Fi is not available outside at the apartment entrance.
- Right across the entrance is a homeless camp where people consumed hard drugs throughout the day. It didn’t make us feel very safe even though we were told they’re harmless and was not a pleasant way to come home or wake up each morning. The bedroom overlooks this camp. In addition, we were fumbling with all our valuables (e.g. passports, electronics) when we first arrived since the host said we could check in early but then they stopped answering once we got to the entrance. They responded an hour or so later apologizing, but that was not the most comfortable experience. Another thing to note, while the apartment is in a central location it is located up quite a steep hill so there’s not many people walking around besides the homeless camp.
- After the first evening we woke up to hundreds of ants leading from a hole in the bedroom wall to the kitchen. After cleaning them up multiple times we finally asked the host if they can help. They did have their cleaning service come the next morning and fix the problem with ant spray and it was fine the rest of the trip but we would have appreciated the cleaning service to knock before walking into the apartment randomly unannounced as they had their own keys to enter.
Overall, it’s hard to say whether we would recommend this place to others or a friend. But, above was our experience for you to decide yourself.