Holiday Apartment in Lisbon with Friendly Rentals

After a pleasant experience in Barcelona with Friendly Rentals, we opted again to rent a holiday apartment in Lisbon through them.  This time around, arrangements were a bit different as a representative met us at the apartment instead of us going to an office to pick up the keys.

For us, the apartment in Barcelona was in the perfect location and we were looking for something similar in Lisbon – central but also quiet.  It took us a while to finally make our decision and we settled for an apartment in Principe Real.

The location is definitely quiet and it is a lovely neighborhood. The listing on Friendly Rentals describes this charming one bedroom accurately. The thing you have to keep in mind is that Lisbon has steep hills and this apartment is uphill climb to the apartment from Bairro Alto and Chiado. As a result of it’s location, you do get treated to a gorgeous view of the rooftops of Lisbon.

From the airport to the apartment, we decide to take the Aerobus and got off at Av. da Liberdade. With the help of Google maps, we saw it was a 11 minute walk and with just a hand carry baggage each, it shouldn’t be a problem.

We heard that Lisbon is built on 7 hills but little did we expect them to be steep.  Google maps can be deceiving because this was a serious uphill walk to the point that we were regretting not having taken a taxi!

Anyway, with some huffing and puffing along the way, we finally made it to the apartment.  The apartment is exactly as the photos shown on the website and we were satisfied.  When we stepped into the main entrance, it was rather narrow but that’s not a biggie.

Our one small complaint is that although the days were warm, the mornings and evenings got chilly and the two electric heaters were not sufficient as one was barely working. Fortunately, there is an electric heater in the bathroom which works well.

There were some lovely touches to the apartment, such as useful information guide on where is the nearest grocery shop, near by attractions and a handy TimeOut Lisbon guide as well as some brochures on a few places of interest. And you have got to love their very equipped kitchen!

The apartment is not located near a metro but there is Bus 790 which can get you to Pc. Luis Camoes where there is a metro stop nearby.  Much to Luca’s disappointment, we found out about this bus on our final evening!  After a whole day out, we would not look forward to the climb back to the apartment.

When checking out of the apartment, a rep from Friendly Rentals met us at the apartment at the agreed time when we first checked in.  Both reps from the company were helpful and very professional.

As we also decided to take the Aerobus back to the airport, this time around, we decided to walk to Elevador da Gloria, took that down to Restauradores and waited for the Aerobus to the airport which passes every 20 minutes.  This was a better option that we should have taken when coming from the airport.

Overall, we were happy with our stay in this apartment and now that we now about the bus, we would likely book it again if we do drop by Lisbon again.

P.S. In case you were wondering, we paid for this holiday apartment in Lisbon and just wanted to share a positive experience.