Lisbon - Hotel

[anboricua76]

Hi, I'm so confused. Trying to look for a hotel that is near the heart of Lisbon or near the metro stop for 2 nights pre and 1 night post cruise. We aren't fussy, just looking for a clean, safe hotel. I have looked at the different threads, (not many current posts). Any help would be greatly appreciated.

Thank you,

Arelis

[roothy123]

I've been looking for a hotel as well and have made a tentative reservation at the Lx Boutique Hotel, which is $127 including tax per night on a Thursday in August. It's located fairly centrally, down near the water and not too far from a Metro stop (Cais Sodra) as well as a tram stop and an Aerobus stop. Lx is not in the Rossio area, but in general, I think that area is pretty convenient, as there is a lot of public transportation around there, plus restaurants and shops. In Rossio I looked at Residencial Florescente which was around $100 (all prices are including the 6% tax) and a couple others. I decided to rule out the Alfama area as it's hilly, not many cars are allowed, and the infamous 28 tram, which runs through it, may be too crowded from what I hear to be all that useful. Alfama just sounded like it might be fun to spend a night there, but maybe not so much after a hard day of traveling, as there may be a lot of steps and hills to deal with. (There are a lot of hills in Lisbon - be aware!) However, it IS close to the port, and IS one area I'll want to visit, so if I could find the right place, I may still give it a shot.

 

Things I considered besides price were whether there was elevator and AC (husband would appreciate those) plus how close the hotel was to public transportation, as I plan to get a 6 euro 24 hour transportation pass and ride trams and buses a lot. However, I hear taxis are fairly cheap, and perhaps better because they will get you somewhere faster for not much more money, so perhaps the transportation isn't as important as I'm thinking. I want to go to Belem, walk around in Alfama and Baixa, and hopefully take the little ferry from Cais Sodra (near Lx Hotel) over to see the Cristo Rei statue up close. I also want to go to the Parque up north (forget the name now - Edward? Pombal?) for good views, and take a couple of the elevadors (funiculars) up the steep streets. I believe the elevadors are in the Barrio Alto area mostly, but I forget. Some hotels in the Baixa area can be noisy, so that's another thing I looked at - best I could. I used tripadvisor a lot, reviews on Venere and booking.com, and info in Rick Steves' book. As for safety, I haven't really heard that any place is better than another, so that has not entered into my thinking too much. There ARE, however, definitely some problems with pickpocketing, so keep that in mind once you get there!

 

I would suggest looking at the golisbon site for comprehensive info on Lisbon, including hotel listings. There are tons of hotels in Lisbon, and if you stick to something in or near the Rossio, Chiado, or Baixa areas, you should end up centrally located for good sightseeing. Alfama might be good, too, but only if you're up for walking, climbing steps, etc. What I find useful is to look at street view in google, or the same feature in Google Earth, to look at neighborhoods to get an idea of what's what. There is apparently a lot of graffiti in Lisbon, and some buildings look run down, but don't let that deter you.

 

The cruise ship docks are spread out along the southern shore of Lisbon, and the airport isn't too terribly far from the central area of Lisbon, making it relatively easy to get to a variety of touristy places without a whole lot of effort or time. However, I guess Belem, where there's the beautiful monastery de Geronimos, plus the Discoveries Monument and the Belem Tower, require a cab or tram or bus ride from central Lisbon, but even they are probably only 20 minutes away. So as long as you stick to the areas above, you'll do OK, I would think. Of course, if you're planning to take the Hop On Hop Off bus (I am NOT), you might want to look up that route and find a hotel near by. I also think a little about proximity to restaurants, and check Google Earth to see what's around each hotel I'm interested in.

 

Hope this info helps you rather than confuses you. Sorry I can't just simply recommend one hotel and be done with it, but it's my first visit to Lisbon. Perhaps others will chime in with hotels they stayed at and liked. However, other hotels I looked at include a couple mentioned by Rick Steves in his 2013 Portugal book: Hotel Lisboa Tejo, Grande Pensao Alcobia, and pensao Residencial Geres, all 3 $80-100 and look basic but decent. I also found the Vincci Baixa, which is a little more but looked very nice. Some hotels include breakfast, by the way, but that will generally be continental, and I've heard it isn't always a good deal, as there are plenty of small breakfast places all over Lisbon.

 

Good luck hunting!

Edited November 21, 2013 by roothy123

[anboricua76]

Roothy123, thank you so much. Your information is great, I have also been looking at Rick Stevens Portugal & Lisbon books. It is our first time in Portugal, we are so excited. Our cruise is on Sept. 22.

 

Thank you,

Arelis