I've traveled around the world staying in airbnb accommodations. This apartment ranks in my top five, ever. A small elevator takes you from the ground to the 4th floor and your front door. Recently renovated, a great amount of care has been taken to save the character of the home.
While there were only three of us, we enjoyed the spaciousness. We tried to figure out how large it was and best guess is between 2500 and 3000 s.f. The top floor has 4 master bedroom suites with baths, the ground level a new kitchen, dining room and couches and TV in living room. Enjoyed the satellite TV with reruns of Miami Vice. All 5 of the bathrooms are new with great showers and all beds are comfortable. Recently, wall heaters were installed in the bedrooms and living area which were much appreciated since we were there in Dec.
But, as wonderful as the apartment is, the best thing is the location. It sits on a cobblestone, narrow street just a couple hundred feet from the river in the best neighborhood in Porto for visitors. One minute from the front door, the river walk is crowded with one restaurant after another, cafes, bars, shops. We had some terrific meals in little local places-one night we even had pizza, but the seafood is the star attraction.
Porto is very hilly, with the river at the bottom of this neighborhood. Just around the corner from the apt. is a hotel where we would catch a taxi to take us to the high parts of the city. From there we would explore and meander and walk back down to our place. Taxis are very cheap here. With three of us, it was cheaper to take a taxi (usually around $4) than the bus.
We took a day trip to the Douro River Valley- two hours from Porto on a train and then a boat ride, 4 hours back, including a hot lunch served. At the end, the boat docked at the bottom of our street.
We were met on arrival at the apartment by a lovely young man who gave us lots of ideas of where to do and what to do. At his suggestion, we tried a couple of terrific restaurants and stopped overnight in a town called Aviero on our way back to Lisbon and enjoyed that a lot.
I would say that staying in this apartment was one of the highlights of the trip. It was perfect.