Miguel's place looked just as lovely as it does in the photos. What we liked in particular was that the bed is perfectly located to face the windows, which in turn faced the scenic riverside.The apartment is also only a fifteen minute walk from the centre, which made it really convenient to reach all the exciting parts of Porto quickly (and also for us to occasionally walk back for a quick rest). There’s a nice and well-equipped kitchenette with a sizeable mini-fridge. The apartment has good air-conditioning and heating.
Miguel was very responsive during our stay. He offered a few activity/event suggestions during our stay, which was thoughtful and definitely appreciated. Also, on our second night, he fixed a noise complaint we had almost instantly (the neighbours in 2A, Miguel’s other Airbnb, were partying late at night and the wall separating the two apartments are thin).
Another thing of note is that we never met Miguel. Upon booking the apartment, we did not know that we would only engage with his neighbour Paulo. We only found this out after inquiring about the check-in procedure one week before the trip.
The check-in procedure was a somewhat uncomfortable experience. We were let in by Paulo, who definitely meant well, but ended up staying in the apartment and talking to us for just a bit too long (about forty minutes). He gave us helpful tips, which we appreciated, but there were frequent episodes of awkward silence as he has the habit of presenting most of his tips in the form of a quiz. He would make us guess what he was alluding to and would not move on until we had found the answer he was looking for. This in particular is what made the check-in procedure a bit uncomfortable.
The lighting over the wooden stairway that leads up to the apartment is very weak, making it very hard to see clearly. This was not a large issue until our last day, when they had just cleaned the stairs. It was still wet when we left the apartment to check out, but because it was so dark we could not see this until it was too late. There was also no sign warning us about the wet stairway. With our heavy backpacks on, we slipped and almost fell down the stairs. Luckily, we managed to grab the banister. We realise that since this stairway is not part of the apartment itself, this is not purely the host’s responsibility, but it is the only way to in and out of the apartment and we could have seriously injured ourselves. When we messaged Miguel about this he did say they are working on improving the lighting.
The paragraph proportions of this review may make it look like we did not really enjoy our stay in Miguel’s apartment, but overall it was definitely an enjoyable stay.