Feeling Eduardo VII — Hotel in Lisbon

Since I like to be thorough, here's a list of the pros and cons of our stay at Feeling Eduardo VII...||Plus points:||Hosts Nuno and Ana Paula are very helpful and friendly, offering advice and recommendations and promptly getting you anything you need.|Location, location, location! With the San Sebastião metro literally right outside the front door, the hotel was perfectly placed for us when catching the red line from the airport direct to the hotel and when leaving Lisbon from Santa Apolónia railway station, which is the last stop on the blue line. Almost all of the city-centre sights you'll want to see are served by the blue line as well, and even if not, there are easy connections to the green and yellow lines, trams, trains and buses.|Breakfast is a simple but generous spread of cereals, breads, spreads, fruit, yoghurt, ham and cheese, with tea, coffee, water and freshly squeezed orange juice. You can also ask for eggs to be prepared for you. Everything is fresh and tasty. The dining room/lounge also has tea/coffee, cake and biscuits available for free 24/7.|There is lift access up to the 2nd floor, but note that you still have to lug your bags up a short see of stairs to get to the lift.|The rooms come with a bar fridge (not a minibar, just a fridge to store your own dunks etc. in), a fan and mechanical exterior window blinds for privacy and a good night's sleep. The bathroom is also stocked with very nice toiletries - shampoo/conditioner, body wash and hand lotion.|On arrival and every day after that when returning to our room we found a little surprise waiting for us, from fruit and sweets to local wine. This was an unexpected touch and very much appreciated. A fresh carafe of water is provided every day as well.||Downsides:||There were a few issues in our room (Duque d'Ávila). Generally, there were quite a few signs of wear and tear - a broken cupboard door handle, the water-damaged base on the inside of the bathroom door et al. Cleanliness was also a bit patchy, including again in the bathroom, where clearly the cleaner never fully closes the door to check whether it needs cleaning behind it. The cupboard was also quite small and awkwardly placed, and the room could have done with some hooks or similar on the walls for coats. The bathroom could do with a hook or two more for towels as well. And on both sides of the bed, only one of the two power points worked, so you had to choose between having the lamp switched on (quite a wobbly lamp on quite a wobbly table, incidentally) or charging devices.|The hotel is in a residential building and had been cobbled together from what I presume was originally a number of apartments. This means that everything opens up from one long corridor and the walls are quite thin. Since our room was almost directly opposite Reception and not far from the front door, we heard every conversation and every opening and (especially) closing of the front door, starting from about 7.00 am. If you're a light sleeper, I recommend earplugs and/or to ask for a room further from the front door and Reception.|Presumably also to do with the age and nature of the building, and with it being in Lisbon/Portugal/Southern Europe, there's no heating or air-conditioning. There was a small fan in our room, which we used, as we were visiting at the tail-end of summer, and for winter a small bar radiator. But anyone coming in the height of summer or depths of winter should bear the possibility of a hot/cold room in mind.|Because the hotel is in a residential building and Reception is not staffed 24/7, guests are given a set of three keys (building front door, hotel front door and room door) that you need to carry around with you. This isn't a big deal, but is something to keep in mind.|The water system in the bathroom, again probably to do with the age and nature of the building, is very noisy - it sounds a bit like you're inside a dishwasher. Also in the bathroom, the lighting is terrible for anyone who's more than about 160 cm tall and wants to see themselves in the mirror. Oh, and the otherwise nice sink is quite high for some reason.|The bed was quite comfortable but neither the pillows nor the duvet "breathed", which led to sweating and tossing and turning even when it was only 25 degrees. This would be less of an issue in winter, but makes sleeping a little...

Our stay at this hotel was disappointing. The accommodation was fine, but it looked quite different from the pictures, which made it seem much nicer than it actually was. The breakfast was also very basic—not what I expected from a place rated 9.0 on Booking.com.

On the plus side, the location is pretty good, right in front of a metro station with direct connections to the airport and the old town. However, be aware of the check-in times! They only allow check-in between 16:00 and 19:30, which is quite unusual. Unfortunately, my booking confirmation only mentioned check-in "from 16:00", so my wife and I planned to arrive later in the evening. When we got there, the hotel was closed, and no one was available to check us in, meaning we had to find and pay for another hotel for the night.

When we finally checked in the next day, I showed the staff that my confirmation was missing the crucial information "until 19:30", but they still refused to refund me for the first night, saying it was my responsibility to check. While I understand policies are policies, I do think that if a hotel has such a strict check-in window, it should be made clearer during the booking process to avoid situations like this.

To be fair, the receptionist, Isabella, was friendly and tried to help, but her supervisor wouldn't reconsider the decision and refused to talk to me. Booking.com also couldn’t assist, as they said it was between me and the hotel.

Overall, this experience was frustrating, and while the hotel itself is "okay-ish", I wouldn’t stay here again. There are plenty of better options for the same...

Location is worth more than 5 stars right next to a metro station, 1 metro only and no need to change line to/from the airport with a nearby elevator exit from the metro station. Service is good very friendly staff, always smiling and helpful, very thoughtful, they always have a small treat for you every night (or atleast every time we come back we always get a small treat) Clean rooms also worth more than 5 stars rooms are huge and very clean even when you walk bare feet you can feel that the floor is clean the only things that are not ok for me is the bathroom although it’s clean also the toilet moves when you sit (seems like it is not attached well to the floor or the wall) and it has some minor leaks, the shower area is a bit dangerous because it’s slippery, they need a handle or a special mat for it and something to put the shampoo, body wash etc. and that noise when you use the water it has a very disturbing noise specially at night when you’re sleeping it will wake you up when the noise starts. Those are minor things that I can be improved. Will definitely be recommending this guest house/ hotel for family and friends coming to Lisbon and I’ll definitely be staying here again if I go back...