Pensão Beira Minho

I wouldn’t recommend this place to anyone. The photos online don’t match the rooms, and there were no relaxing facilities. Cleaning was practically nonexistent: the sheets and pillowcases weren’t changed in 12 days. One bed was so noisy I ended up sleeping on the floor. The shower was so cramped you couldn’t pick up the soap if you dropped it. The place was a dump, from the elevator to the bathroom.

Our hostel cancelled, so we were booked here through Expedia for a ridiculous amount. It was a busy weekend in Lisbon, which may explain the high price, but I’ve slept better in almost every hostel. The lift didn’t work, so we had to carry our things up to the third floor. There was hardly any Wi-Fi, and the promised TV was tiny. We didn’t try it, so I don’t know if it worked. There was a large window between the bed and bathroom, but fortunately a blind could be pulled down for privacy. The room was quiet and very central, and our window faced a quiet street, so we did get a good night’s sleep. The bathroom also seemed fairly new. Elsewhere, wallpaper was peeling, with tape over some attempted repairs, there were holes all over the walls, and the mattress was worn out. Just a few impressions in the pictures below :)

The location was good, and that’s the only reason I gave it one star. The room was cold and dirty, with insects crushed on the walls and ceiling. On a rainy day, water came through the ceiling and flooded the whole room. We weren’t looking for a luxury hotel, but basic cleanliness and a sound building matter.

The value was better than I expected. The room and bathroom were nice and clean, the towels were changed each day, and breakfast came in bed. On our last day, we asked for a hairdryer, a corkscrew, and somewhere to leave our luggage, and they gave us all of them. The metro was literally steps away.