Celas Dream Studio

The host was attentive and dealt with our problems quickly, but the cleanliness fell far short of what we expected. The bathroom was really dirty, with hair and black smudges all over the floor, and the fridge needed cleaning too. For a place advertised as family-friendly, this wasn’t good enough. I was terrified to bathe my kids there.

The landlord was helpful when I ran into trouble, but the room smelled of cigarette smoke even though smoking wasn’t allowed in the house. Access is handled through an automatic SMS server, and it didn’t work with my phone.

On Thursday, June 1st to 2nd, we booked through booking.com and ended up locked out with nobody answering us. We checked in as early as we could, expecting the room details and entry instructions by text, but the messaging system was useless and nothing came through. We called the number we were given for a full hour. No answer. We had to look for another pension or hotel with availability because the alternative was spending the night outside. We found Alojamento Local Duarte's, which I’d definitely recommend over this place. I can’t imagine how awful the night would have been otherwise. We’ll file a complaint and hope for our money back, though that won’t make up for the fear of being left without somewhere to sleep. 😡

The shared toilets and kitchen made this feel more like a hostel, just a collection of rooms, not an apartment. It was nothing like the deluxe place advertised, and it smelled awful. The layout was bizarre and dark, there’s no lift, and you have to get an entrance text. My children cried when they came in. Later they said it felt like an escape room they’d visited. I meant shared bathrooms, not shared rooms. Booking.com should be ashamed to list this property.