Royal Guesthouse — Hotel in Lisbon

My partner and I - both in our late 30s – decided to stay here based on the Tripadvisor reviews and central location. There are noticeably a lot of hostels in Lisbon, which equally have great credentials, however, I gathered these were more aimed towards younger backpackers. We stayed for 4 nights and paid 22EUR each per night for 2 single beds with en suite . We didn’t mind sleeping in separate beds despite being a couple – it was cheaper to do so! lol||I will bullet point my thoughts on the hostel and our experience, to make it an easier read. I was going to list pro’s and con’s however, this is very subjective so what I may find a positive, you may not. Concluding, I will then give my overall opinion on my stay at Pensao Royal.||||- Fantastic location – 1 minute walk to Baixo-Chiado metro station and 5 min walk to key tourist areas||- The hostel is located on the 3rd floor, up 5 flights of stairs. No lift, but that didn’t bother us.||- Excellent security. The door entering the hostel itself is always locked and is only opened by one of the staff when you ring the front entrance or main doorbell. There is a key to each room also.||- Cosy and eclectic environment. Very colourfully decorated, mix and match of décor – I really liked it.||- Our room was a twin bed, en suite. Located just off the main reception area. Room overlooked Rue da Crucifixo (main road which Biaxo-Chiado metro station entrance resides on). There were other rooms located either side of our room. ||- The room itself and bathroom was immaculately clean – very impressed. ||- No shower hose holder – so you had to stand or sit in the shower cubicle (which was spacious), whilst hosing yourself clean. Initially bothersome, but got over it quickly.||- Plentiful hot water and high pressure shower.||- 3 visible sockets, a portable heater and very small wardrobe – only suitable for 1 person’s clothes, so very little storage space to hang/store clothing. Didn’t bother me personally.||- ‘Very firm’ mattresses. Perfect for me because I suffer now and again with back problems.||- 3 layers of bedding – great for chilly nights (and removable for the summer)||- Ceiling fan – ideal for warm nights.||- The hostel was located 2 doors away from a very busy pub called ‘The George’ - has TV screens for viewing football matches. Every night there were groups of drinkers shouting or talking loudly, sometimes at 1am or 2am in the morning. The pub closes at 2am so it’s ok after then, but the ‘odd’ night you will hear a drunk circa 3am. I suspect this will be more of a regular occurrence in the summer. I brought very effective memory foam ear plugs (the ones construction workers use), so thankfully, I slept through the noise (im a super light sleeper so would have been a nightmare if I didn’t have them).||- Excellent breakfast selection (between 8am and 10am) – good quality bread, cakes, cereal, etc (see pic). The presentation was lovely and it was clear the ladies placed a lot of time and pride laying the tables. Toaster, kettle (for coffee and tea) also readily available.||- There is a TV in the kitchen room where you can watch the news.||- Excellent wifi connection available at all times.||- I believe the kitchen area also serves as a communal space in the evening – which we never used but nice to have that option.||||What really made the experience great was the fantastic service ladies who look after managing the hostel (they are the ones who are there at all times and let you in/out of the hostel – so it’s nice to know the hostel is manned for security purposes). Incredibly hospitable, attentive and friendly – they made the hostel feel like a home, or more like the home of your auntie’s! One of them speaks more English than the other, and I found her very charming (she is also quite tactile – only slightly – but I really like that in people, it speaks volumes about them). ||||The only slight issue, and I mean slight, was that it was located two doors down for a busy pub, but the noise was intermittent. Saying that, we went the last week in March, so it’s still relatively quiet in Lisbon then for the tourist season. I suspect it will be much more busier between April and August, so that pub may well experience constant as opposed to intermittent outside noise. As I said, I just wore my earplugs, so it didn’t dampen my experience of staying at the hostel. ||||You pay cash for the hostel, they don’t take card. Also, check-in is 2pm, so if you arrive earlier, you can leave your bags safely there and have a wonder around Lisbon first. If you arrive late at night, no problem, one of the ladies will let you in (you just need to buzz the main entrance door on the street).||||I’ve stayed in hostels before in Europe and always had a positive experience. I’m glad this hostel in particular had mainly older residents – not young kids. It was never a noisy hostel – people were very respectful of keeping the peace, which im guessing you wouldn’t get in a more trendy, modern and larger hostel. This was a great experience and can’t fault anything. So what if it’s located on a busy road, you are after all staying bang in the centre of Lisbon. Highly recommend for its value for money and...

Centrally located in Lisboa, a stones throw from Baixa-Chiado metro station and very close to many of the cities tourist spots. When you come out of the station turn right and keep walking until you are just past The George Pub on the left. There is a sign for Pensao Galicia Residencial. This is the right place. The Pensao Royal is on the same floor. It is usually locked. Press the white buzzer to be let in. The reception is manned 24/7. I was greeted by the lovely Maria who was very welcoming. I arrived too early for check-in which is after 2pm but Maria let me leave my luggage in reception so I could wander the city in comfort.|||| My room and ensuite was nice and bright and pink. Very clean and immaculate. The water pressure in the shower is really good and nice and hot. Be aware the hot water is scalding so adjust with cold water before getting in the shower. You also have to hold the shower hose while you wash. There are at least 3 power points. The wardrobe is really suitable for one person. ||||The breakfast is good. Lots of choice. Coffee, orange juice, cake, biscuits, ham, cheese, toast, fruit salad. etc. There is a TV with English NEWS channels.||||One thing I would say is it can get noisy in the late evening. There is a pub 2 doors down and one night people were playing football at 3am. A good pair of earplugs will give you a good nights sleep.||||Overall this is a great...

BED BUGS!!! Beware!

I really wanted to love this place. The ladies who served us were extremely nice and accommodating. It also has really great location. Those are the only reasons this is not a one star review.

Unfortunately, I was bitten by bed bugs! Yes, BED BUGS. We found physical evidence of the bugs at night (I killed about 3 tiny ones on one bed and we found a larger one on the other bed along with some smaller ones too). When staff was informed, we were immediately moved to another room for the rest of the night and the sheets were taken into laundry. As these pesky bugs are not so easy to get rid off, they have a problem that they need to seriously look into.

True enough, bug bites started showing up on my body the next day. They itch like hell and will probably take a few weeks/months to go away :(

It would be great for the owners / managers to acknowledge and take action at exterminating these bed bugs before allowing more guests to stay... And have their vacations ruined by bed bugs. I strongly wouldn't recommend until they...