Sílvia is a well-organized host, highly recommend doing business with her. Despite she was not available to meet us when checking in, she arranged the hand-over of the keys, left us some local cakes as a welcome gift and replied to all our questions immediately during our 4-night stay in the Easter break. The apartment was clean and well-equipped with basic items you would expect in an AirBnB.
As regards the apartment, it has an excellent location. It is a 5-min (uphill) walk from metro E (which stops at the airport), it is close to a number of restaurants and it is within a walking distance from major sights of Porto. There is a great café next to the entrance of the building where you can take care of your caffein intake, breakfast or even a quick lunch if you prefer to spend more time with sightseeing.
A couple of things to consider before booking:
- We had a different bed, not the one shown in the picture, but a rather inconvenient and noisy foldable bed. When I mentioned this to Sílvia, she explained that the original bed broke last week, hence the difference. If the bed and the mattress is an important issue for you, I recommend clarifying with Sílvia before booking.
- As she mentions in the description, the apartment has no heating but she provides a small electric heater. During our stay, the outdoor teperature was around 10-13 degrees and with the heater we were able to have approx. 18 degrees in the bedroom. As the heater has a built-in light, it was not possible to use it at night but Sílvia provided a number of extra blankets in the apt. Later she explained that it is not advised to use the heater at night due to the fact that it burns the oxygen in the room.
- As the apartment is in the downtown and the building is not insulated, it is very noisy, day and night. It is next to a hospital, so emergency syrens are more frequent during the day then elsewhere. Also, walls are very thin, so your good night sleep largely depends on your neighbors. Noisy streets and neighbors might be a trade-off that you need to make in downtown Porto and this issue is beyond Sílvia's authority as a host, nevertheless it is a factor to consider when choosing your accommodation in Porto.