Locke de Santa Joana — Hotel in Lisbon

I was really excited to stay at Locke due to the pictures and newness of hotel but overall it’s not been the most convenient of experiences. I’ll start with what’s not ideal and then end with the benefits - hope this is helpful to others as I usually read through reviews myself before booking.

Not ideal: -The Locke room (the most standard room) is a lot smaller than it looks in photos. If I had understood the true scale, I would’ve paid more for a larger room just to be a bit more comfortable.

-The standard Locke rooms also have very little natural lighting due to it facing another building of the same height. So in addition to the rooms being on the small side, the lack of natural lighting can make it feel claustrophobic. I was placed in a room with the larger windows but apparently there are Locke rooms with smaller windows (window shape alternates by floors) so that seems even less comfortable.

-There is no housekeeping unless you stay for more than a week - and even then it’s only a weekly housekeeping. I booked for 4 nights but that doesn’t qualify for housekeeping so this means needing to ask for basic things like toilet paper refills. It’s a small thing but I was very unused to having to ask for things like toilet paper that I didn’t realize to ask for it until I had none left which is quite inconvenient. And when I called for a refill of several rolls, they just brought one more roll for 3 more days of stay which meant I had to call again for more refills after having just made the request.

-The restaurant directly by the pool (currently their only restaurant) is not connected to the hotel so they can’t bill your hotel room and I found the service (particularly the hostess) to be lacking. My guess is that if Locke directly ran the restaurant, there might be more consistency in service.

-There is essentially no hotel service outside of the check in/check out experience, so for some people this may be fine but if you’re somebody who expects the more traditional hotel services that come with a high nightly cost, this may be disappointing for you.

-The layout is very strange where the hotel is split into 3 buildings and to get to my building it takes 2 elevator transfers. If you’re in the main building (which is the more premium rooms), then you don’t need to take as many transfers.

-The shower water never gets hot.

Now what was good?

Benefits: -It’s a very aesthetically pleasing hotel so it’s very Instagram ready and quite vibey. And it’s very new so it has that clean feeling that comes with being a new hotel. It’s also an old convent so that is the foundation of the very cool design.

-It also seems like they invested a lot into quality materials. For example, the furniture and the tiling plus even the doors. The doors are very heavy for example and even the exit stairwell is very beautiful.

-On the doors being heavy, it is quite quiet bc of investments like thick and heavy doors and concrete between the floors. This is a huge plus if having a quiet place to stay is important to you (it is for me). And I do appreciate that they invested in this bc it’s an easy thing to skimp and just rely on being an aesthetically pleasing hotel.

-Location is great - it’s essentially right around the corner from the most high end avenue in Lisbon - eg where the Gucci LV Prada stores are, so very central and near high end shopping if that’s your taste.

-WiFi is very fast and reliable.

Overall I would say if you’re the type that’s into hotels like Hoxton, Ace, etc. this might be more up your alley - where the vibe and aesthetics are more important than the service and amenities. Or I could see this working well for somebody on a short work trip. However if you prefer traditional amenities like housekeeping, service, roominess, etc., things that typically make you really feel like a guest on vacation, then this may not be it for you. If I were to rebook, I don’t think I would’ve picked this place especially as there are better values for the same price in a city like Lisbon where there are plenty of...

Where to start with this hotel... If I had to give it a personnality, it would be "I go to law school and my dad has a boat".

First of all, the staff at the reception seems to prefer to chat with each other rather than greet guests. When we arrived and tried to check-in, it seemed like we where disturbing them and then, it seemed like us not wanting to have a 30 minutes conversation with them before checking in was offending them. Really the weirdest check-in experience I've had.

At our arrival, were informed that the cleaning of the room was on tuesdays only, for "sustainability reasons". Just tell me that it is to save money, there are no recycling in the rooms or the hotel in general and everytime we needed something, we were told that it is not a hotel but an appartment-hotel and to not expect the same level of services.

Once we got in the room, we noticed that for an appartement that was only cleaned once a week, the garbage can was absolutely minuscule and there was only 1 roll of toilet paper + whatever was left on the roll and 2 dishwashers tablets. We were there for a whole week and since we arrived on a Saturday, we tough that it wouldn't be too bad and that everything would be restocked on Tuesday. I also discovered at that point that the renovations made in the room were of poor quality and had to repair a few things myself: the door of the bathroom didn't latch properly and you had to wank it to close it (the door handle stayed in my girlfriends hand the first day and I had to tighten it). The shower head was also loose and sprayed water everywhere on the ceiling. Since there is no fan in the bathroom and everything had been soaked everytime someone took a shower in the last weeks/months, you could start to see water damage and the smell of humidity.

On the first day, I tried filling the water jug to put it in the fridge and while filling it, the bottom just gave away. I was surprised, since I was filling it with cold tap water and the jug had been left in the fridge that was set to off (we had to take 5 minutes when we arrived to find the on/off switch hidden in the fridge and turn it on (it was a first for me)). There was no temperature shock. I wondered that it was probably a very cheap jug and that it was cheaper this way for the hotel than to buy expensive equipment that was going to be broken anyway overtime and went to the reception ask for a new jug. At first, the woman there tried to pin it on me saying that I had put hot water in it. After telling her that the water was cold and the jug room temperature, so there was to temperature shock, she told me that I would get a new one, wich never arrived in the week we were there.

On Monday, a housekeeping employee knocked and asked if we needed cleaning. We were surprised since we were told that cleaning was on Tuesday, but since we wanted to have the tiny garbage can emptied and more dishwashing tablets, we said yes and left the room quickly. When we came back later in the afternoon, the room was cleaned, but toilet paper et dishwashing tablets were not replenished. Since my experience with the reception hadn't been great, I waited a but before going to ask for more. About an hour later, someone just entered the room while we were still in it. We were surprised and the woman identified herself as the housekeeping supervisor and asked us if everything was fine, since the employee that did our room was in training. I told her that we needed toilet paper and dishwasher tablets and she told us that she would ask for it, but never came back. At that point, we told ourself that we would just go buy some at the grocery store and call it a day since it would be faster and easier. However, we were surprised on Tuesday that the room had been redone and that everything had been replenished.

Lets talk about the pool now. It is not a swimming pool, but rather a social pool. There are stairs and seats everywhere in it, making it perfect to sip a drink, but not so much for laps or just...

YMMV (your mileage may vary) - not what I expected, but overall good value given the room rate I paid. I'd give it 3.5 stars.

Your satisfaction at Locke Santa Joana will depend on your travel personality and expectations. I prefer boutique hotels, but I booked before the property opened and got an amazing room rate, making it worth it for me (to spend my savings on dining and shopping). Look at other hotels of interest to you and compare the room rate. I was interested in properties going for $300-400+/night.

If you're young and used to hostels, you'll likely love the vibes at this clean, modern hotel. Those who have stayed in many boutique hotels may appreciate the newness but might feel a bit disappointed. Guests used to upscale accommodations could be frustrated, especially if they didn't read the website thoroughly.

Things to Note:

The property is new, and some restaurant facilities shown online are not yet complete. I was disappointed that the full property was still not open by my September 14 arrival because the website showed all would be open. Remember, this is an aparthotel, which combines elements of an Airbnb serviced apartment and a hotel. Room cleaning is provided only for stays over seven days. If you need fresh towels or toilet paper, you must request them at reception, and there’s no room service. They do have buffet breakfast IF you can figure out how to book it with your room rate.

What I Liked:

The hotel is clean and well-located outside the busy tourist areas, particularly in the quieter Marquis do Pombal area. BUT if you want shorter walks, closer to tourist areas, you may not be happy. Some rooms have large balconies (book early to secure one). The poolside restaurant has a great vibe. The rooms seem well sound proofed. It’s convenient to have a full-size refrigerator, washer/dryer, and stove, and Wi-Fi worked well.

What I Didn't Like:

The lobby is small and cramped, and the building layout is very confusing, with not all elevators servicing every floor. The website photos are lovely, but not do not truly reflect the lobby and shared spaces. You expect a grand lobby with multiple bars/restaurants and that's not accurate at all. You feel like you’re in a serviced apartment rather than a boutique hotel, which is more my style. My Locke membership early check-in was not honored. The website did not give me the option to book breakfast with my room rate. I assumed no breakfast is offered, but it is. The bathroom lacks a fan, which may lead to steam and potential mold issues in the future. I also noted the bathroom never smells fresh -- as if the toilet plumbing maybe doesn't work well?

Suggestions for the Locke Team:

Consider adding a visual barrier on the large balconies, such as a screen divider with plants, as they are shared between rooms. Guests wander the large balcony not realizing it's shared. Providing 1-2 laundry soap pods per room would also be...