Santos Apartments by Linc

Every morning at 8am, hammer drills and banging from construction woke me up, and it went on until lunchtime. I don't expect that on holiday, and guests should be told if work is happening during the holiday season. There was no information in the room about what to do if something went wrong, the satellite TV didn't work, and the staff they sent didn't speak English. The studio's awkward layout and poor light only added to the stress. I think charging guests without telling them about the work shows no respect. Dishonest and greedy. Never again.

The flat was spacious and had plenty of appliances, including a washing machine and dishwasher. We were on the top floor, though, and there was no lift, which made getting around with a buggy difficult. Great place to stay.

The split-level, street-level room was gorgeous, but the stay was frustrating enough that I wouldn't come back. There was no luggage storage at this property. We tried the Cais do Sodre location, but its large lockers were full, so we took our bags to Cascais, went to the beach, and waited there with them until check-in. The front door code worked this time, unlike at their Bairro Alto property. Payment at the new check-in video kiosk was easier than at Bairro Alto because it didn't ask for a PIN, though scanning my passport was just as difficult. The apartment code from the machine didn't work, so I had to call from the hallway and was sweating in the heat because the stairwell, or “lobby,” has no air-conditioning. There was no soap, shampoo, conditioner, or body wash. Like at Bairro Alto, only leftover strips remained in the shower where the dispensers used to be. There were also no instructions for the washer-dryer. Europeans may find this common appliance self-explanatory, but it wasn't for me as an American. I photographed the dials and posted them on Facebook so my European friends could explain how to wash and dry in one go.

We got bitten by bed bugs, and had to wash all our clothes at 60 degrees. We even called pest control at home because we worried we'd brought one back with us. Apparently this has been a problem since 2017, or at least it needs to be dealt with better. It was a really awful experience. They upgraded us for the last night, but that hasn't changed the bad memory.