Meliá Lisboa Aeroporto

We chose this place for its proximity to the airport, but for the price I expected it to be nicer. The room was okay, though dark and dated, and it wasn’t one of our favorite places in Portugal. We skipped dinner after seeing bad reviews and hearing from people who ate there that it was the worst. We’d prepaid for breakfast, and that was actually pretty good.

We booked two rooms, and one was clearly still unprepared when we arrived: the bed was dirty and the glasses had been used. We’ve traveled a lot and never had this happen before. At the desk, we were told to wait about an hour for housekeeping. I asked whether we might get a small consideration if we ate at the hotel restaurant while waiting, but they gave us a couple of Christmas cookies, which felt dismissive. The hotel’s location was convenient, but the stay was far more hassle than expected. The keys repeatedly opened our room door but didn’t activate the elevator, so we made extra trips to the desk. The hall carpets looked worn and not very clean, and no one explained basic things like putting the key card in the slot to turn on the room’s electricity. A manager was polite and apologized, saying he’d discount dinner, but the discount wasn’t on the bill at checkout. Only after we asked did they apply €20, which wasn’t much given the trouble and meal cost. Staff were polite, but cleanliness, communication, and guest service need significant improvement. Two out of five.

The restaurant has a good dinner menu, a breakfast buffet, and lunch, while the bar next door serves food before the dining room opens at 18:30h. The rooms feel contemporary and are a bit tight, as is common in European hotels. The decor is crisp and modern, and there’s a flight schedule projected on the wall behind reception. We walked about five minutes from Lisbon (Lisboa) airport with two medium roller bags each. Some of the pavement is traditional Portuguese calçada stone, but the walk was easy. There’s also a shuttle. If being right across from the airport matters to your plans, I’d recommend it.

The breakfast buffet had plenty of options and was really good. Our room was neat and very clean, and the front desk, housekeeping, and other staff were all friendly and courteous.