We had a very mixed experience at this Host Wise apartment. Overall, the good outweighed the bad by a fair margin, but there's some real issues that you should be aware of before you decide on this listing.
First the positives:
- Location is spectacular. You're within a 10 min walk to most things you'd want to see in Porto. Very central, near the Metro, lots of restaurants and shopping nearby.

- Was a pretty good value at $190 per night (In July during peak season). Most other 3 BR properties were $275+, so it was nice to save some $$ vs other options.
- Communication with Host Wise was mostly easy and efficient. They did go silent on one particular issue, but they were generally good to deal with. Check-in and check-out were both easy and efficient.
- The dining / living area was really nice and they had good quality appliances.
With all that said, there were definitely some big issues that you should be aware of.
- The apartment is advertised as being air conditioned and this is mostly true. However, the AC unit in one of the bedrooms was entirely non-functional. This is a HUGE issue if the weather is a bit warm. It made that bedroom very uncomfortable and this was only with the temperature being 80-85°F in Porto. If it was any warmer, that bedroom would've been entirely unusable.
- The shower drain in one of the ensuite bathrooms REEKED of sewage anytime you turned on the water in the shower. It was literally one of the most horrid smells I've ever encountered. Thankfully there were two other showers in the unit, so we just wound up not using this shower at all and made do with the other two.
- Given that BOTH of these issues appears in other reviews, I'm disappointed that Host Wise has let these issues fester for many many many months. In fact, after having read other reviews, I even emailed Host Wise BEFORE making the booking about the AC and they specifically ignored my question about ensuring that the AC was working.
- Beyond those two major issues, there's some minor issues, but nothing that would put me off from renting this unit again (I probably wouldn't rent it again if these two big issues weren't fixed). The towels were the worst towels of any property that I've ever stayed in. Because Host Wise wanted custom towels with their name on them, they went for the cheapest towels on the planet. You'd be better off towelling off with toilet paper vs these useless bath towels. The kitchen pots/pans were very well worn, to the point where they are no longer usable. We didn't cook much, so this didn't have a big impact, but I wouldn't consider any of the pots and pans to be usable.
- As many other reviews have mentioned, the layout of the apartment is weird. They've taken what was probably a beautiful one bedroom with tall ceilings and converted it to a three bedroom duplex where ceilings are no more than 6 ft in most parts of the apartment. I'm only 5'10 and my hair was grazing the ceiling in the bedroom. If you are any taller, you will hit your head 100%. And while this conversion into a duplex is a clever way for them to cram more bedrooms/beds into the unit, it does make things very very cramped in many areas. As long as you know this is what you're getting, you're fine.
- The apartment is advertised for 8 people, but there is no way 8 adults could possibly fit here. We were 4 adults and 2 kids and it was barely doable for us.
On the whole, I'd still recommend the place if the value is good and it's substantially less priced than other 3 BR options and Host Wise is a good management company, so I'd recommend them for other units they manage outside of this one.