Alfama Yellow House

Manuel was great and made sure we had what we needed. We stayed in two units. The second one had recently been remodeled and was very nice, though its shower was quite small but adequate. The first studio was nice too, apart from a dirty floor. We were up at the highest point in the city while it was experiencing unprecedented flooding, and the location worked well. Alfama Yellow House is about an eight-minute walk from St. George's castle and around 22 minutes from downtown and Rossio Square. Downtown had nice Christmas lights and a Christmas market. We had a great stay, and next time we’ll visit in sunnier weather.

Manuel and Pedro gave us a really friendly introduction to the area and great service. The old town Alfama location is decent, especially if that’s where you want to stay. The kitchen equipment, utensils, and coffee machine came in handy, and the TV worked well with the usual streaming services. But there was no shampoo or body wash, so bring your own. The toilet had a bad sewer smell, and the towels were a bit worn.

We stayed as four people in the “Two-Bedroom Apartment,” and the cleanliness was poor. I’ve attached photos of mold. Recent reviews had already made us concerned about mold, so we contacted Booking.com support and the host before the stay to try to cancel. The host refused. We also disliked that there was no air conditioning, which had been listed when we booked but was later removed from the property listing. When we raised that, the host again wouldn’t let us back out. Be careful. The location in Alfama is fairly central and decent for the price, but the place has a back-alley feel off the main roads and paths. Ubers had trouble reaching it all the way several times. We were also passed between at least a couple of different “hosts” instead of speaking directly with Manuel, which made the experience inconsistent.

We had a perfect six-night stay and will definitely come back. Yellow House is right in the middle of old town Alfama. There’s a nice, inexpensive restaurant next door called SALSA, and a convenience store too.