Pros:
The location is fantastic. The views from both sides of the apartment are amazing.
Cons:
The bed bedding pillows and sheets are subpar. The headboard which was mentioned in a June review is in a bad shape because it still shedding! It looks like a snake that is molting. Every morning we would wake up with snake skin on our hair and face. It really needs to be replaced. It’s not something you would expect from any B&B… There are large pillows in a cupboard but no way to use them since there are no pillowcases supplied. The pillow for the hideaway couch was about 50% larger than the pillowcase. Fortunately it was a down pillow, the only down pillow in this place and we were able to stuff it in. None of the sheets for the bedding was fitted which would normally be. It would have been OK if the sheets were large enough to cover the mattress. Here they were not, so constantly the sheets would come away from the edges and then you are sleeping on the bare mattress. We ran out of toilet paper after day two. We mentioned it but there was no effort to provide more. It’s very unusual for us to travel to a bed-and-breakfast that does not supply toilet paper for the entire trip. The check in process was very difficult and unnecessary. It would probably be easier if we knew the city however coming in with a car and a bunch of luggage and having to go to an office to pick up keys then bring the car to the other location made it extremely stressful. There’s no parking anywhere near where the key pick up area was and it’s in the heart of downtown porto. Text me a bar that we went to to pick up the keys. If we knew how difficult it would’ve been we probably would’ve paid extra. Not sure why they can’t just put some type of lockbox on the door or on the building to enable to guest to come in to grab the keys. The storage for luggage that is mentioned is about 45 minutes by walking so I’m not sure how that even helps. There are no screens on the window and the apartment gets pretty warm in July and August. There’s a great Cross breeze when you open all the windows however the mosquitoes and flies also enjoy that cross breeze and come into the apartment. There is no air conditioning in this unit which we knew but didn’t realize how warm and stuff yet would be with the windows closed. The toilet was running when we arrived and the flush was weak. We mentioned it in the next day they sent a service man to come and fix it. He fixed the flush strength, but did not stop the water from leaking. I mentioned this as a huge waste of resources which I’m sure the owner is paying for. The continuous running water was more annoying. The garbage cans in the bathroom was broken which the repair man also replaced. The sink in the bathroom was clogged and running very slowly and that was also remedied by the repairman. The apartment had shag rugs in the bedroom and in the living room where the Hideaway couch was. This is very difficult to clean in in the bedroom we found a huge lump of hair on the side of the bed when we arrived.
There was no manual for the washer, dryer, oven and range, so we couldn’t use the oven or a stove top and had to search online for a manual for washer/dryer.
Overall All of these things are fixable and the location is fantastic.
We would love to return if these things can be fixed. Like I said it’s one of the best places to stay with a great view of the river on one side and the stock exchange and open grass area on the other.
By the way sleeping with the windows open was a bit of a hit or miss with the noise level. The first night we were there it was a dog that was continuously parking. Saturday night it’s pretty loud and people stay up late. There’s a lot of noise in music and screaming that you can hear with the windows open. It would be nice to put screens on those windows if possible so that we could leave them open without the insects come in. There is an elevator in the building which is also great since we were staying on the fourth floor.