If the accommodation were as ideal as the helpful host Susana, it would have been fine. Most previous reviews, except some, evaluated the place with polite, perhaps superficial courtesies which are a disservice to fellow travellers expecting a reliable and realistic assessment. Neither is it in the intended spirit of Airbnb reviews. Here is what I experienced: The “compact apartment” is located on the first floor via a narrow staircase with 20 steps to climb (not the mentioned 10 steps) beside a defunct elevator. The comfort level experienced during my few-days stay was increasingly compromised by the upper apartment tenant’s quite audible sharing of vocal and music sounds (described in another review as “neighbors in the complex was fairly loud throughout our stay”; plus, the rear of the apartment is next to a high school (Escola Secundaria Aurelia de Sousa) where shouting enthusiasts practiced their competitive sports. This experience was also expressed by another reviewer as “yelling school kids at the back.” The neighborhood dogs made sure to be noticed as well.
Despite resolution–seeking discussions to stop the tenant’s attempt to entertain the neighbourhood, the engaged building “administrator’s” efforts showed no satisfactory results. Neither, as suggested, would a more drastic option, to engage the noise-by-law-enforcing police, have been a satisfactory solution where a decibel meter is used to decide comfort levels, when the noise by-law apparently allows the culprits “free rein” until 10pm and, apparently, calling after 10pm only when it is “very, very noisy”. It seems that noise nuisance is not considered on the basis of “common sense comfort”, and not because of respectful regard for an individual’s privacy at any time .
The accepted definition of noise is unwanted sound which will be different depending on an individual’s perception of noise/sound at a given time and/or occasion.
For people used to or preferring a “lively” home environment, this accommodation may still be ideal.