Lisbon Metro Apartment

We came by train to Oriente, Lisbon where our host, Ricardo, picked us up by car and drove us to the flat. He was very kind and helpful, and there was even ice cream for us in the freezer! :D The flat was very nice and clean with everything we needed. Ricardo was also helpful sending links to places to go, number to taxi, etc. We would definitely recommend this to our friends, and also stay there ourselves another time!

If we should dig deep after something constructive to make it even better, it would be to be more informative in advance about the place. Ie. that it is not a hotel by traditional definition, but rather a privately owned flat that is rented out. That means that there is no room service, reception desk, gym, or whatever you would expect at a ‘real’ hotel. Don’t misunderstand this - it was an absolute pleasure to stay there, and we would definitely go there again if we come to Lisbon. Maybe it’s just on a personal level that we prefer 100% transparency in the deals that we walk into in advance. To be fair, it might in fact have been informed during the booking process (that it isn’t a ‘traditional’ hotel) - in that case, we just failed to intercept it. If not, we would recommend to add it in the description. :)

Nice and clean place, great host, fixed a door on short notice.

Think it was only missing a shower head holder, everything else you would need was there :)

The place was clean. Good proximity for going to the airport (which was why we chose it) - otherwise not a great area for exploring Lisbon.

Communication could have been made easier - many Americans don't use WhatsApp, and it would have been much less stressful to receive information in advance (when we made the booking) instead of worrying about receiving information while we're on the road, not always having WiFi access. Nobody was there to meet us on arrival - we had to call and wait for the person to come. The first thing he told us was to make sure we throw away our own garbage bags, bringing them from the 6th floor down to the basement. This is not acceptable for 287 euros a night and it left a very unwelcoming impression. Being left with just one key (instead of a door code, for example), means there is no flexibility for people to come and go separately (my husband wanted to swim, for example, and I wanted to go out shopping, but we couldn't leave separately without it being inconvenient to organize). Finally, the bed has a mattress that is about 2 inches thick, on a wood frame. Terribly uncomfortable. Honestly, we wouldn't mind any of this overall, but for 287 euros a night? We expected better. We had much better experiences elsewhere in Lisbon and the rest of Portugal. The complex is also hard to get around - this is not the owner's fault, but just a minus about the place.

Perfect property, couldn’t fault anything, Ricardo very helpful on check in day, would definitely stay again.