Design Alfama Villa - Lisbon

Beautiful old Lisbon building with tiled facade and stone walls. I’ve never stayed in a building so old! The beds were comfortable and it came with a great blow dryer so your hair will look good in selfies. Wi-Fi worked well in the living room. The host so kindly allowed us to drop our luggage off prior to official check in. Understanding the age of the building and lack of forced air heat, we did have to abandon one bedroom due to mold smell. We were able to adjust by putting sisters together in the same room. We, as with previous renters, we’re asked to pay money outside of the VRBO listing. This is not something I do. I encourage the manager/owners to add necessary taxes to the listing. This ask created a lot of communication for me to attend to when I just wanted to enjoy the city.

Was there with family and after a slight glitch getting in because they changed the passcode, all was good. Alexandre was readily accessible by phone for any issues. The kitchen is a little too modern so it took a bit to figure out appliances and there is a dearth of electric outlets, but other than that it was comfy. The neighborhood is the best thing. Next to Alfama and all the restaurants, a lovely park with a great view and the Tuesday and Saturday flea market, it has all you need and is nice and quiet at night without tourists. It’s about a 20-30 minute walk to the center of Lisbon, so we rarely relied on public transport or Tik Tuks or Ubers, but those are quite cheap when you just don’t feel like climbing the hill.

The building is beautiful from the outside and in a perfect location - the immediate area is very relaxed and calm, but in a 5 minute walk you’re in the centre of the city. Check-in was easy and we were able to drop our bags at the apartment early and leave them there on our last day. First impressions of the apartment were great - bright, airy, bedrooms were all good sizes - but we soon started finding its flaws. The main issue was the damp - it was isolated to one room, but after a few days all the belongings of those staying in the room started smelling of mould. The door of the dishwasher didn’t close properly so that leaked every time it was turned on. One room had a floor to ceiling internal window but no curtain - we had to improvise with a few blankets. The kitchen would benefit from a deep clean and an update. We had exactly the same issue with the city tax as those below. I do not have Revolut and refused to sign up. We eventually agreed to settle using PayPal, but I still felt very uncomfortable sending cash to a personal bank account when there had been no mention in the listing.