Porto Downtown Flats

great location. i liked that we had a view of the bridge/waterfront, and it was a short walk to it and to various bus stops. the elevator was pretty cool -- one of those old style ones where you have to manually open/close a door before it starts moving. you do need to go up a flight of stairs to the elevator though, and then either up/down another half flight of stairs after (depending if you get off one floor later or earlier), to get to the unit. check-in/check-out was also smooth -- just had to pick up/drop off keys (real, physical, metal keys!) at the lockbox. the apartment itself was decently sized, with functional kitchen, dining area, and living room. the kitchen had some basic supplies available, like salt and pepper. the water pressure in the kitchen and washroom were good. the giant L-shaped couch in the living room was big and comfy -- good enough for second bed, though i don't think there was a second set of bedding provided (we didn't ask for any). the mattress was comfortable to me -- despite how small it was, i couldn't feel my partner moving beside me, which is a win. however, the mattress is thin, so that may be uncomfortable to others.

the main thing was there is no A/C!!! two fans were provided, but the bedroom fan kept tilting over and blowing up to the ceiling instead of at the angle we wanted. the fans were not enough, in any case. the windows do have the metal shades, so we can pull them down during the day to stop the sun from entering, but it was still hot... the other thing is that the living/dining/kitchen area is VERY dark, even with all the lights turned on. it needs more lighting. with the windows open, it would be bright (during the day), but we couldn't open the windows because it would be hot. also, there are no mosquito nets on the windows, so we didn't want to keep the windows open in case mosquitoes came in (we did catch a couple, but didn't get bitten). the living room tv is also so tiny. didn't really matter to us, but it was kind of comically small (like a 15" tv). the bed is an actual american double bed, not an european double! so it's quite small for two people.

Excellent location and easy check in and out with lockbox access to keys

Nothing

The flat was so spacious and clean. Bigger than we expected. We had zero complaints on the amenities and the location is perfectly central.

Locating the apartment at check in was very difficult. There was no picture of what the outside building looked like or anything to help facilitate what to look for. Google Maps will send you to a different location so be sure to follow the link provided by the host. Both the key box and door knob had their own technique to be able to open. We did not know about this so check in took us over an hour and required us to contact the host for help. The host seemed to be annoyed at us calling him for help, but the tricks to opening the box and door could’ve been shared in the check in instructions and he wouldn’t have been bother then.

Location as described downtown Porto

Should disclose big flight of stairs after entry before the Lift Apartment is quite dark limited airflow and no exhaust fan in the bathroom