THE EDITORY RIVERSIDE SANTA APOLÓNIA HOTEL

Very affordable. Good location on major transportation hubs - train, bus, metro.

Rooms are a little small

Excelente Hotel em Santa Apolónia mesmo junto a estação do comboio, simpatia desde a recepção até ao restaurante ou bar

This should not be rated as a 5 star hotel and there are some serious issues. My stay here was a disaster and no one seems to be taking responsibility or show interest to improve anything.

The two river view rooms that I booked were incredibly dirty. Dust everywhere, hair, spots on the mirrors, the shower cabin was full of white spots from chalk, the windows were very dirty… Short: no one had properly cleaned these rooms for months.

After complaining about this, I was told that they would deep clean my room. Unfortunately, a day later, it was still the same mess. Again, I complained, another empty apology was given and another day passed, with only minimal improvement. At least some of the most obvious dirt was removed and they gave me some slippers (There were none when I arrived) but it was still far from clean.

But this is not all…

One day before checking out, I was contacted via WhatsApp and they asked whether the second room that I had booked was still needed. Apparently, they had messed up the reservation and had assumed that the person in this room would check out on that day. When we returned later that evening, the room could not be accessed anymore and we had to ask for a new key. On top of that, the room had not been cleaned, the bed was not made etc. I can forgive that a mistake was made with the booking, but I don’t get why they didn’t make an immediate effort to clean the room and make sure that the key would be working when I informed them that the checkout date was later. I don’t even understand why they contacted me, when nothing would happen anyway.

I wish I could stop here, but I have more things to say. The breakfast was mediocre at best, we tried it on day one and decided not to go there again, even though we had paid for it for 5 days. Furthermore, the rooms and especially the bathrooms are very small for a 5 star property. The wardrobe space is also very limited. Even though I was alone in my room, I was not able to put all of my things into a closet. There were only 4 hangers and very limited space to put t-shirts etc.

I was told twice that a manager would contact me. This never happened. Yesterday, when I checked out, no manager was present either. I didn’t expect anything else, but it just shows that no one cares.

No compensation was offered, only empty words from the reception staff (who I don’t blame - they are not at fault for this disaster). They wanted to restock my minibar for free, but let’s be real - that is a joke and doesn't compensate for anything.

I can only recommend other travellers to choose a different place, which is a pity, given that the building itself is really charming and the river view is quite nice.

No more appologies please. I wish someone (and no, I am not talking about the front office manager - I am talking about the general manager or the owner) takes responsibility and takes the necessary action to ensure this never happens again. I honestly feel scammed by you guys - knowing how this played out, I should have just left upon arriving and asked for my money back. It wasn't exactly expensive for a 5 star hotel (and I should have taken that as a warning sign), but it was way too expensive for what it was. There are plenty of hotels in Lisbon that are clean, have decent breakfast options and are less expensive than this.

This was our second stay at this hotel and I am just simply in love with the design of the hotel. It feels like walking onto the set of a Wes Anderson film. The room could’ve been a bit cleaner on our arrival (soap scum and hair in the shower was an unpleasant surprise) but our stay was otherwise as expected. Great price for what they offer. Staff are helpful and friendly but somewhat reserved.

Every time a train is leaving you’ve a kind of an earthquake in the room. Poor acoustic, poor sleep!