Bairro Alto Hotel - Lisbon
 

I have a few questions about this hotel...first, they are offering a deal called "Ginginha at Bairro Alto" which states "Minimum of 02 nights stay Daily Breakfast served in the Restaurant Typical Lisbon VIP (Ginginha) Upgrade upon availability." Any idea what this means? I googled Ginginha so I know what that is, but this rate is 70 Euros cheaper than their best internet rate, and I'm wondering why.
Also, I am considering this hotel or the Hotel Metropole, which I know Fodorites love. Any thoughts on one vs. the other?
Lastly, I would like to know how to pronounce Bairro...I think it is like By-row, is this correct?
Thanks so much!!

Your accent is perfect. Give a look at Hotel Borges

Another appartment in the same area http://www.vrbo.com/77293

Wow, that is a great apartment! I just forwarded the link to my husband and we will definitely consider it. We'll be staying in the area for 2 nights and then we have a reservation at the Lapa Palace for our last night in Lisbon.
Thanks also for the accent confirmation. I've got to get some language tapes to prepare for our trip. I have heard that my Spanish knowledge will help with reading but not pronounciation or understanding of speech.

That's a shame because the appartment is cheaper with 3 nights. Try to negotiate the same price for 2 nights.
There is another thread "things do do in and around Lisbon (part 3)" and 2 out of the regulars in that thread have reservations for that appartment (Sarasara and Namaka). Keep watching Fodors and I'm sure that sooner or later some reviews will appear.

Yes, I saw that it is a minimum of 3 nights but I emailed to see if they'd let us stay for only 2 nights. I'll let you know what they say -

FYI - Paulo allowed us to book only 2 nights. I hope to read some good reviews from namaka and others who will stay there shortly. We will not be there until August.

I wonder if Paulo realizes how many bookings he's getting are coming from this site? Let's see, there's me, Sarasara, Carolynf and possibly Sherry to name a few! Not bad.

And isn't he sooo accomadating? So far, I have been so impressed with his willingness to work with me and his quick responses to my millions of ?'s.

Namaka
I keep telling myself to book. And then I think just
wait a week or two more and I will get a report back.
Sherry
p,s. he should really be thankful to you as you found the listing in the first place.

Namaka, we have booked that apartment for eight nights, beginning 3 October. I found it before I read about it here. Paulo is very helpful and seems to be a nice man.

Sherry, there are some positive comments on his site; I'm sure it is going to be good. I would hate to see you lose out!

I am so excited to be visiting Lisbon for the first time!

I know, I know. The only disappointment that we have had in all of the apartments we have rented is the one time in Lisbon.
I guess that makes me gun shy.

Okay, being resient here with Lobo I think we'll have to take a visit and persuade him to take us out for dinner as a thankyou for his increased bookings ;-)

Matt

Sherry, I too, would hate for you to lose out on this apt. if it turns out to be great. Why don't you just book it to ensure you get your dates, because if we don't end up liking it you can always cancel. At least you could still get your dates;maybe!

Just a thought! If not, I will let you know asap.

namaka

Namaka.
I give in. I just sent an email to Paulo. I already have a Paypal account (I use it on Ebay) so that is the easy part.
I just cannot imagine what could be wrong with it.
Is the extra sleeping space a sofa sleeper? I notice there is a double bed in the bedroom. I know you are taking your children and would know.

Sherry, did you notice that a couple of the people who made comments posted their email addresses? Perhaps an email to them may ease your mind.

You will find that Paulo is very quick to answer any of your questions. I had several email conversations with him. I was impressed! I appreciate that someone will be there to meet us and to help with any problem we may have.

The "elegent" bedroom with double bed appears to be too small for us; we are used to a king sized bed. I plan to sleep on the sofa bed. :)

Matt, good idea!

actually, Paulo told me that both of the couches fold out to beds. Perfect for the kids, so I don't have to hear "she/he is touching me!" lol!

I sent an email to Italy in regards to my paris apt; There was a really bad review of an apt owned by the same people as my paris apt. I was a little freaked and went back online to find a really nice review. I emailed the lady in Italy and she emailed back that it was great. So, I'm not going to worry anymore.

Judi, I know what you mean about the size of the bed. I am only 5'1" and 105 lbs, whereas my husband is about 6'3" 200 lbs. We have a California King but will just make due with whatever we have. If not, I guess I can always squeeze in with one of the kids.lol!

I agree, Paulo has been great. Now that all the hotel reservations have been made, it's on to the rental car and learning Portuguese! I am still looking for a recommendation on a language program. Most that I have seen are Brazilian Portuguese, not continental Portuguese. I want to make sure I am pronouncing street names, etc. properly!

i have booked paulo's apt for a week in october. he has been very attentive. i am looking forward to hearing remarks from namaka.

Paulo may have to rename this the "Fodorite" apartment!

Sherry, have you booked yet?

Ok, I know the suspense is killing everyone, so I will try to post on the apt. as soon as I can. I am sitting here in Paris; my very last night and will be off to Lisboa in the morning. Expect a post sometime tomorrow evening!

Namaka. OK. Rub it in that you are in Paris and we are sweltering in Pittsburgh.
Ah, but on Tuesday, I will be on the beach at Long Island.

Judi. I wrote a note to Paulo and told him that I could not book until I heard from Namaka. I said I was sorry but that I was so gun shy because I just could not book since my one experience in Lisbon with that "other" apartment was so bad. I explained that I wasn't saying this about his apartment and I didn't expect him to hold it. I would just let him know next week.

He has been very good. I do not expect his apartment to be anything but as represented. I just feel I have to wait. So far, my dates are still open.

I have to tell you to click on my name and see the post labeled Lisbon. The owner asked people to write in and advertise travelingtolisbon. It just so happens that the awful apartment is listed on this site.

wow Sher this is all too creepy. I will also be interested in the report from namaka - for next time!

Have fun at the beach - I am headed for upstate NY Tuesday so it should be cooler there! But this is how it was in Portugal last week.

Sorry everyone if you've still been waiting for my apt report; I wrote a few things on it on the Lisbon III thread.

Anyways, the apt is just beautiful. It is exactly as it looks in the photos. No, it's better and bigger than it looks in the photos! It's very bright,clean and new. Did I mention clean!

Paulo again has been great. We were unable to get cash out of the ATM at the airport so we didn't have the remaining amount due to him upon arrival as planned. He was not at all worried and just said for me to call him when we either got the money or that we would just make other arrangements. What a nice guy! Needless to say, we have been able to get cash. Initially, we kept trying to get 300e, but then tried 200e and got it w/o a hitch. I should have remembered that it was posted on someone's report.

So back to the apt. There are two couches in the living room area that both fold out to beds. Nice mattresses on them. They are both good size couches and although my kids could each have their own, they decided to still just sleep on own. Maybe for extra comforting of each other in a strange place?

Our bed has a nice, firm mattress and the bed suits both my DH and myself just fine. Remember we are used to a California King and DH is pretty tall,
but no complaints at all!

The kitchen is quite large, specially in comparison to what we had in our apt in France. Of course, that entire apt could've fit inside the living room of this apt. Okay, slight exaggeration.

All the windows face out into the square and open up to bring all the excitement indoors. I keep them open till bedtime and spend a lot of time hanging out of them just people watching. When it's time for bed, I close them and the shutters to keep the noise level down as well as the sun as we have been sleeping in rather late.

The apt is equipped with everything you will need with 2 exceptions; there is no phone, so if you are bringing/getting a cell phone you will be okay. If you weren't planning to bring/buy one, you may reconsider. Secondly, there is no internet. Not a big deal for most people, but we have our lap top and wanted to use it to look up things. We had to purchase it. We opted for 7 days use for 50e. A little higher than we wanted, but had we had it 1 day earlier, we would've known not to purchase the Lisboa Card. Well, actually, I did kind of know that it was a bit of a rip-off but we got so confused about where to get our colinas card/transportation card,that we caved. We spent time looking at the options again and are going to try to see if we can return the Lisboa Cards as we haven't used them yet.Lesson #1 learned.

Okay, got a little off track there. Anyways, about the apt. Great! If you are/were on the fence about it, no worries; I am here to tell you that it is worth it!

Meeting with Joao and Matt for coffee tonight!

That is great to hear, namaka. Very reassuring! Have a great time and I look forward to a trip report...