Madalena Hermitage

The apartment was absolutely LOVELY and the air conditioning worked really well (and was very much needed as Lisbon was really quite hot while we were there!) I LOVED that the main apartment door as well as the door to the lobby/street were both steel and bolted tightly; I felt like we were safe while IN the apartment but also that our things were safe when we were not there. The building is in the lively Baixa area quite near the Praça de Comércio. There are many restaurants, shops, and things to see/do nearby. We loved that this part of Lisbon felt very accessible and there was gorgeous tile work everywhere (even sidewalks!) The apartment is near the waterfront, too, and we saw musicians one night and even caught some of a World Cup match on a large screen another evening. The streets and buildings have SUCH beautiful tile work - even this apartment building salvaged some tile (probably from a renovation?) and framed it in the lobby; just GORGEOUS! This building had a small elevator (which was very helpful with luggage) but otherwise, even staying on the 3rd floor, we usually just enjoyed the nice stairs. The decor is top notch and you can tell that whomever owns the building (and/or the apartment we stayed in) cares a lot about having things be on the nicer end: appliances, decor, furnishings, etc. We would like to thank the host for the local wine and cookies (as well as the complimentary coffee); all of this was VERY much appreciated! We ate one day at of all places a local pizza joint nearby and honestly it was some of the best pizza (super fresh ingredients and lovely waitress) - that was so cool! I would advise that at the little tourist shops (the ones with all the souvenirs) you attempt to bargain; we bought a few things before realizing that (haha!) I'd also highly recommend Uber and Bolt to get to/from the airport.

I will say that this area felt VERY safe during the day but the first night, our son arrived before us and did go out after 8-9pm to go to get a couple of groceries from a nearby shop and he did unfortunately get mugged; he said that he was quite tired and obviously very alone in an unfamiliar area so he feels like this made him more of a target. He was not hurt but did get chased/cornered by a group of young men that yelled at him to hand over money so he threw his only cash (20 Euros) and ran in the other direction and safely got away. He felt that the area by the apartment that night was rather deserted though when we arrived the next day and were there for 2 more days, it didn't seem to him like the area got as deserted at night so maybe this is not common (??) I will say that we only went out after that in groups of 2 or 3 and made sure to be back at the apartment before it got fully dark - but looking out the window, it did seem like there were more people around that he saw that first night. I don't think the area is inherantly dangerous but using common sense and going out in groups, not carrying money obviously, staying where there are people, not being out after dark unless it's busy, etc. would be good in general tips for avoiding that situation. Also, the apartment is a *little* hard to find but the door is green and RIGHT next to an Italian Cafe/restaurant.

Location and AC offered in bedrooms.

Could not figure out washing machine but owner sent cleaning lady to help.

Great location and good value

Could use update and extra cleaning

It’s in a good location staff are lovely and it’s clean

The sofa bed was far too heavy to get out so we didn’t use it at all , which wasn’t ideal!! There was also a damp smell whenever we come back to the apartment although it was very clean , I have booked these apartments before and I was very impressed with the last one which was in the same block so I was a bit disappointed this time