HI Almada - Pousada Juventude - Hostel

The hostel’s up on a steep hill, and there’s no public transport to get there. Check-in is also very late, at 17 o'clock, though that seems common at HI hostels in Portugal. Even so, I liked my stay. The location is great, the views are amazing, and the staff are helpful and very nice. I made unforgettable memories here with friends from all around the world.

The receptionist and other staff were wonderful, and the cliffside view across Lisbon and the ocean was beautiful. Breakfast was enjoyable too: bread with ham, cheese or butter, plus cereal, chocolate milk and coffee. The coffee wasn’t amazing, but it could have been a lot worse. The rooms are okay, though the bunks weren’t great for my family’s overnight stay, some mattresses had holes, and the sheets were stained. The public showers weren’t the issue themselves, but there were strange brown stains on the floor that looked like poop. The men’s bathroom had graffiti, and the cubicle locks didn’t work. A pretty average stay overall, and I’d recommend it for a short visit.

The location was great for the start of the Lisbon Half Marathon, and the staff were very kind and helpful. Our rooms were clean. The shower area wasn’t the best, but it wasn’t bad either.

That view over the river, with the bridge to Lisbon in sight, was amazing and made the walk up the hill worthwhile. Our class stayed for a week in rooms -1.0X, with X being a number 1-9. The rooms seemed fine and much like other hostels, though the brown-ish blankets we got weren’t comfortable to sleep under. Having access from the rooms to a connected balcony was fun for our class, but I’m not sure it would work as well for individuals or separate groups. The shared bathroom had seven showers behind walls and curtains, but it was disgusting. In the week we were there, I didn’t get the impression it was cleaned once. The shower water collected in a ‘bowl’ that drained too slowly, so you had to hope your shower got warm before you were standing in a pool. The toilets had similar problems: dirty floors, mostly broken locks, and one was out of order. Staff were fine, reception spoke English well, and breakfast was alright but limited. You could have a piece of bread with jam, cheese or ham, cereal or chocolate-cereal stuff, and water, orange juice or milk. As we were cleaning up on departure day and taking off the bedsheets and other laundry for washing, we discovered bed bugs in many of our rooms. I doubt the hostel meets Portugal’s health regulations, though I don’t know what those rules are.