I am an early adopter of online services since my jobs is in the online marketing and tourism. The Airbnb Lisbon choice was based on the price of the hotels which were quite high in Lisbon and the fact that I was about to spend 3 nights in the capital of Portugal. I have used Airbnb before in Lyon, Warsway, Prague, Anvers, Brooklyn New York and the first Airbnb booked was in Colombo Sri Lanka back in 2014!
Most of the time the decision to stay in an Airbnb vs the hotel is based on price of the hotel and the room size and amenities. Second is based on the duration of my stay: if more than 4 nights in one place the options is to pick up an Airbnb with an equipped kitchen.
Except Lyon, all the Airbnb I have stayed is with the whole apartment selection. Yes, the price is a bit higher but privacy and not to feel ashamed when you come back late in the evening and not to make noise.
Airbnb has become a big business for owners of the apartment. I was myself an Airbnb Host in Yangon but not to proud of it as the apartment was not in a such good condition of the beginning but we managed with a small investment to make it better in time. The number one rule for me to have a successful Airbnb business is to invest in your apartment: from design, amenities and extra things which in an hotel you can not find it.
One of those apartment is the Airbnb Lisbon I have stayed during my 3 nights stay in Lisbon.
My Airbnb Lisbon Experience
Location was an important factor. The apartment with a vintage chic style is a garret, was located on the top floor of a building without elevator in the heart of Lisbon. (Close to Saldanha, Picoas and 20 minutes walk from Bairro Alto, Chiado, Principe Real and Restauradores). 2 metro lines were 6-8 minutes away located and in 10 minutes you could be in main touristic area of Lisbon.
There are several bars & restaurants and few coffee shops close by and a big supermarket when we often did the shopping as the kitchen was well equipped.
Communication & Check in @ Airbnb Lisbon
The owner of the place, Isabel was prompt in replying regarding my booking and send all the check in details before arriving in Lisbon.
This is an downside of the Airbnb places – the owner might not be home and we have to check in by yourself, have to be at a specific hour, etc. If you are arriving first time in that country and don’t have a local sim card with the data can be quite expensive to find the location or to communicate with the host as I happen to me while I visited NY for the first time; being delay at the custom more than 9 hours because the process was damm slow and huge crowd of people.
Isabel was not home as she way away in southern Lisbon and the key were left at a clothes washing shop down her place. And we had to be there before 6pm when the shop was to be closed and the lady with our key had to go home. If any flight delay of something else to be happened we would have missed the deadline and would have to try to find the lady. But it was not the case as we were arriving by train from Porto.
The Airbnb apartment in Lisbon is located on a quiet street and neighbourhood. It’s on the 4th floor and has no elevator. Many old building in Lisbon don’t have an elevator so I think it would be the case of many airbnb apartment in this amazing city. We had a quite big luggage and it was a bit heavy to be carried till the last floor and the last stairs were quite small as well. As we did not see the building last floor we rang the wrong door first time; and the person there probably knew the rented place on Airbnb and showed us the right door. Even if Isabel told us there is a heart on the door we rang on the wrong one. In the end we have check in at her place.
Airbnb Lisbon Apartment
The apartment has 2 bedrooms and 3 beds and 1 bathroom. 4 people maximum can be accomodated. The living room is big, spacious and has one IKEA Couch a big TV screen a big table in the corner of the room and a very nice small chair.
The instruction were written on a notebook and the WIFI password as well. This can be an issue if you are staying in an Airbnb and the owner is about: if the wife brokes it would be difficult to be repaired in time.
The bedroom we have decided to stay was smaller compared with the living room and smaller compared with the other available room. It was a bit imposible to have the luggage large opened. A closes was as well.
2 clean pair of towels were on the bed and 2 sets of pillow (the small details I told you which makes a place better than a hotel). Room has a natural light being on the last floor with an Velux Window.
Kitchen was not too big but fully equipped from all the necessary utensils to from stove, fridge, water heater, coffee maker and washing machine which had included the free liquid as well. A posted was written on the heater not to be touched. The kitchen has a opening to a small terrace where you can take breakfast in the morning.
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Kitchen -
Kitchen -
Kitchen -
Kitchen
The second room was much bigger than the room we sleep and the apartment is perfect for a group of 4 persons or many a big family. Because this is why Airbnb is an excellent option if you are traveling as a family; most of the hotels charge a lot for the extra bed so if a big family of 4 or even 5 person it would be much cheaper to stay into an Airbnb vs a classic hotel. Room had a closet as well where an iron and an ironing board was located. Every small detail which made this apartment a perfect stay in Lisbon!
An working table was in the second room in case you wanted some privacy to do some work.
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Second Bedroom -
Second Bedroom -
Second Bedroom -
Second Bedroom
Bathroom was small but big enough for 2 people to do their morning routine in the same time.
Water pressure was not that strong and water not too hot sometimes but this was not an issue. The other downside of staying in an Airbnb for long period is that daily cleaning is not provided. So if you are staying more than 3-4 days in one place the bathroom can get a bit dirty if you don’t clean it properly.
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Bathroom -
Airbnb Lisbon Bathroom
To be honest I felt in love with this apartment and wanted my future place to be as cool as this. And if I had the money I would have bought this apartment on the spot!
If you are planning to visit Lisbon and book an Airbnb click here to check a 23 Euro discount for your first booking with Airbnb!
