Chiado Gem Private Pool & Patio Retreat

The location was absolutely excellent, walking distance to everywhere we wanted to go. The apartment was reasonably furnished with good WiFi in the main living area. The accommodation is split: 2 x bedrooms and 2 x bathrooms in the main flat; down some very steep stairs to a pool and terrace area with dining table and a couple of loungers; an annex building with 2 x single beds, a double bedroom and a bathroom. The annex was extremely quiet at night but the other rooms were quite noisy but no more so than you would expect in a city centre and not overly so - it is not on a main road. There is a lovely restaurant immediately opposite.

The pool was a bit grubby and didn't look like the filter was working; fine to dip your body in to cool down but I didn't fancy putting my face in the water. The annex is completely separate so would not be suitable for leaving young children to sleep alone. To get to the double bedroom in the annex you have to go through the single beds room and through the double room to get to the bathroom so you would need to be good friends to share this space.

Central, spacious, the pool is great. Beds are good. Mgmt was nice about leaving our luggage.

We lacked a bit of hot water in the showers.

clean rooms, comfortable beds and enough space for storage

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The apartment has a very good location, which was definitely the biggest advantage of our stay. It is convenient and well situated for exploring Lisbon.

The apartment itself felt somewhat worn. The kitchen area was also quite sparsely equipped, with almost no glasses. It is also worth knowing that the bedrooms are located in two separate parts of the apartment, which was not entirely clear from the photos. The living room and dining area are also much tighter than they appear in the pictures. The biggest disappointment was the pool. It was really not clean when we arrived, with dirt, an old bottle cap and even a chicken bone in it, despite being told that it had just been professionally cleaned. Staff were kindly sent to address the issue, but the first person mostly just looked at it and removed the bone. We notified them again, and while we were out in town, new staff were sent. However, it mostly seemed as if the dirt had just been stirred around, and a chlorine tablet had been added. The bottle cap was still in the pool. The circulation did not appear to be working properly, and by the evening the dirt had settled back on the bottom again. Unfortunately, the pool felt so unhygienic that no one in our group felt comfortable using it. This was especially disappointing because the outdoor area could otherwise have been a nice place to relax in the sun. Instead, the dirty pool became the main feature of the patio, which made the whole outdoor space feel much less inviting. This is also worth mentioning because the apartment is relatively pricey compared with other central apartments we have rented before, for example in Rome, where we experienced a much better overall standard. Given the price level, we expected a higher standard, especially regarding cleanliness, maintenance and the usability of the outdoor area.