Hotel Duas Nações — Hotel in Lisbon

My brother and I stayed here for 4 nights in October booking several months in advance. I was concerned over numerous negative reviews and planned to book something else. Options shrank as it got closer to our trip so we just decided to keep this reservation. My primary reason for choosing Duas Nacoes was its location; in a pedestrian zone right in the middle of the central district. The Baixa-Chiado metro station which serves the green and blue lines was a 7 minute walk. Rossio Square is an 8 minute walk. Praça do Comércio was a 5 minute walk. The Santa Justa Elevator is right around the corner. You get the point. For better or worse you're right in the middle of the action come night time. There are street vendors, outdoor cafes, souvenir shops, drug dealers selling hash, bakeries, beggars, and they all want your money. ||We both found the hotel very clean and comfortable. Air conditioning was adequate but an open window felt nice. I booked a triple room and the space was great. The bathroom was plenty big and the water was hot which was appreciated. It also had a bidet. Don't know if it's just our toilet but one must press the button and keep it pressed until enough water flushes, usually a few seconds or so. I will say that whatever the maids clean the floors with is very, very strong. Not in a foul way, but it lingered long after they left. The mattresses and pillows were comfortable so naps and sleep were easy. Drapes helped. Occasionally you'll hear loud music coming from outside, but remember; you're in the middle of the action. If a little city noise doesn't bother you though it's no problem. Just a friendly note: Unless you're a parent with kids, you'll likely be approached by a man whispering "hash? marijuana? coke?" A simple no does the job. Not the hotel's fault, of course, but just wanted to put it out there. ||Everyone we encountered was friendly and helpful. They all spoke great English. You can keep your luggage there until check in so you're able to sightsee. The construction that previous reviewers mentioned is long gone. One quirky thing is the elevator/lift. It can only hold one person at a time. We were instructed to either ride solo or send our luggage up/down but not both. The elevator has sensors that stop it if tripped. I myself got trapped once and my luggage tripped the sensor on checkout day. It's on the slow side and you may find yourself just taking the stairs most of the time.||We had breakfast once here. A few cold cuts, juices, coffee, hot bar with eggs, bacon, yogurt, fruit, that sort of thing. Compared to the other hotels we stayed at it was OK. It was convenient for us the morning we checked out but at €10 the cafes nearby provided better value and food. We were allowed to refill our water bottles in the breakfast room which was appreciated. The hotel can arrange airport transfer for €20. We elected to do this the morning we checked out and waited around in the dining room after breakfast. About 7 minutes after our scheduled pickup I checked in with the helpful lady at the front desk about status. She told us the driver was stuck at the airport so we ended up booking an Uber at half the price. We had a little bit of a time buffer but this would've been a stressful irritant if our flights were earlier. Uber is fantastic (and cheap) in Lisbon BTW. ||The price in advance was a really good deal in this part of town. TripAdviser and some hotel sites rate this as a 2 star property but it's clearly a 3. I'd recommend it to anyone but a light sleeper or someone with severe weight problems. We both were pleasantly surprised with our stay at Duas Nacoes and would stay again without hesitation. ||TIP: because it's in a pedestrian zone taxis/Ubers are unable to drop you off directly at the hotel and will usually leave you on a nearby, parallel side street (Rua dos Sapateiros). If you're trying to go somewhere from the hotel it's usually better to meet at one of the nearby squares to avoid criss crossing back and forth through the one...

An honest and straight up review by a solo traveller having stayed here for six days. If it’s good I’ll say so, if it’s bad I’ll say so. ||The room I had was small but it was clean except for the net curtains, they needed a wash. Everything said about the lift in previous reviews is true, it fits one person at a time, it is slow and it stops very briefly sometimes. A very small bathroom with a toilet that is impossible to sit straight on. That said the room was very clean and well kept. Double bed was comfortable and the room was cleaned every day. If you’re travelling to take photos and have camera batteries, battery packs. iPhone, iPad etc then there is only one socket in the room so buy an extension plug that includes USB points before you go then you won’t have any problems. The shower is small and a bit of squeeze for the Dad Bod but water runs nice and hot with good water pressure. Shower gel dispenser in shower and over wash basin. TV had Portuguese speaking channels only. The air con I never quite worked out how to turn the temperature down to make it colder and turn the air flow up. It consumes electricity but other than that I couldn’t really see the point of it as it didn’t really cool the room that much. I didn’t take the breakfast option and from what I saw neither did the majority of the guests. There is a cafe next door which opens at 7am and has numerous breakfast options from fresh fruit to cooked breakfasts at a good price. There is a patisserie in the next street called Pau de Canela offering great coffee and pastries for a few euros. Quality and staff at the patisserie are top notch. From previous reviews of the hotel I confess I was worried but pleasantly surprised it was much better than I expected in terms of the standard of room. It is very noisy of a nighttime due to its location and I mean very noisy. You are going to need ear plugs for a decent nights sleep if you are a light sleeper. Hotel staff sadly is bit off a minus mark. Friendly enough but apart from one member of staff I’m convinced the rest are not native to Lisbon. Several times I asked about tram and bus stops as there was a huge amount of roadworks in Lisbon when i was there which has knocked out part of the tram and bus routes due to closed roads and diversions. Apart from telling me where the metro was (you could see this from the street outside) they were no help at all regards bus and trams to a specific location. At least twice I was told they didn’t know. I found that a disappointment to be honest. I later found out the diversions and road closures plan to be around for time due to flooding issues over the winter and the improvements they are now trying to make. It’s a lot like British roadworks lots of cones and chaos and no one actually working on the job at hand. So back to the hotel, would I stay here again? yes without a doubt, but I would make sure I packed ear plugs and I wouldn’t bother asking the staff anything as I got the feeling I was always interrupting their social lives or screen time on social media. Put some staff with great local knowledge on the front desk and this would really elevate this place and the experience. So if your planning on staying here pack some ear plugs and get yourself a guide map. Its not five star but its a perfect location right in the centre and its a perfectly good hotel apart from a few little niggles. In late April 2023 there were NO building works at this hotel and dont believe the reviews saying the pictures are not accurate because that is...

An honest and straight up review by a solo traveller having stayed here for six days. If it’s good I’ll say so, if it’s bad I’ll say so. The room I had was small but it was clean except for the net curtains. I wouldn’t like to hazard a guess as to when they were last washed. Everything said about the lift in previous reviews is true. A very small bathroom with a toilet that is impossible to sit straight on. That said the room was very clean and well kept. Double bed was comfortable and the room was cleaned every day except one. If you’re travelling to take photos and have camera batteries, battery packs. iPhone, iPad etc then there is only one socket in the room so buy an extension plug that includes USB points before you go then you won’t have any problems. The shower is small and a bit of squeeze for the Dad Bod but water runs nice and hot with good water pressure. Shower gel dispenser in shower and over wash basin. TV had Portuguese speaking channels only. The air con I never quite worked out how to turn the temperature down to make it colder and the air flow up. It consumes electricity but other than that I couldn’t really see the point of it as it didn’t really cool the room. I didn’t take the breakfast option and from what I saw neither did the majority of the guests, I guess that says everything really. There is a cafe next door which opens at 7am and has numerous breakfast options from fresh fruit to cooked breakfasts at a good price. There is a patisserie in the next street called Pau de Canela offering great coffee and pastries for a few euros. Quality and staff at the patisserie are top notch. From previous reviews of the hotel I confess I was worried but pleasantly surprised it was much better than I expected in terms of the standard of room. It is very noisy of a nighttime due to its location and I mean very noisy. You are going to need ear plugs for a decent nights sleep without them you won’t get one or hardly any sleep at all. Hotel staff sadly is a minus mark. Friendly enough but apart from one member of staff I’m convinced the rest are not native to Lisbon. Several times I asked about tram and bus stops as there was a huge amount of roadworks in Lisbon which has knocked out part of the tram and bus routes due to closed roads and diversions. Apart from telling me where the metro was (you could see this from the street outside) they were no help at all regards bus and trams to a specific location. At least twice I was told they didn’t know. I found that a disappointment to be honest. I later found out the diversions and road closures plan to be around for time due to flooding issues over the winter and the improvements they are now trying to make. It’s a lot like British roadworks lots of cones and chaos and no one actually working on the job at hand. So back to the hotel, would I stay here again? yes but I would make sure I packed industrial strength ear plugs and I wouldn’t bother asking the staff anything as I got the feeling I was always interrupting their social lives or screen time on social media. Put some staff with great local knowledge on the front desk and this would really elevate this place and the experience. So if your planning on staying here practice in advance by squeezing through your shower door at home when it’s half closed, practice sitting on the toilet and attending to your needs sideways and pack ear plugs in fact pack two pairs. Turn the heating right up on a hot night and see if you can sleep with no...