City Stays Cais do Sodré Apartments

Being fairly central was the apartment's only plus. It badly needs renovation, and the whole building stank. We couldn't open any windows because a terrible odor came in. It wasn't very clean, the WLAN didn't work, and none of the sockets worked either. I can't tell if the towels provided were clean.

The location was convenient, close to most things, though there's an uphill walk to Bairro Alto. But the area was extremely noisy, especially on weekends, with bars on the nearby pink street and traffic jams at the roundabout outside at all hours. Cars honked nonstop. I'm a heavy sleeper, yet even with the windows shut I woke up at least twice a night. We spent six days on a business trip in apartment 3E on the third floor. There's no elevator, just a note for anyone considering it. The place needs renovation, from repainting the walls to replacing much of the worn interior. It's neither luxurious nor completely awful, but it does need work. One shower was broken and one bathroom door wouldn't close. It took the owner(s) around two days of messages to address those, but they were fixed before we left. The cheap laminate flooring also squeaked. In my four Lisbon apartment stays over the past five years, this was the worst.

The staff were helpful, and we were already in touch before our flight landed in Lisbon. These are good self-catering apartments near the metro and some interesting places. I'd recommend them.

I stayed here for a week on a business trip, and it worked well for that. Some nights were a little loud, but still okay.