The Hostelz.com Review
The family-run Lisbon Old Town Hostel is a serene place to set up shop while you explore the city. The building is spacious and comfortable, and the staff go out of their way to ensure that you enjoy your stay.
The Location
Old Town is a short walk north of Cais do Sodre, a major public transportation hub featuring metro, bus, tram, and train. This makes it easy to navigate the city and find your way back home, as well as to direct a taxi back to a familiar area. Unfortunately, the walk from Cais do Sodre to the hostel is uphill -- a hill that feels evens steeper with a bag or backpack. It is easy to miss the hostel's unassuming cross street initially, but once you know what to look for, it's not difficult to find it again.
The neighborhood can be a bit dodgy from block to block, but the hostel has excellent security. Each guest buzzing in to the front gate is seen by video camera before being allowed in by the twenty-four-hour desk staff. All visitors must then walk in the front door and be seen by the front desk staff in order to gain access to the hostel.
Rooms and Bathrooms
We stayed on the hostel's newly opened second floor, which has its own kitchen, living room/dining area, bathrooms, and dorms. This floor has one men's bathroom and one bathroom with a co-ed sink area partitioned from the toilet and shower area that operates as a women's bathroom. These are kept very clean, although they get musty when guests keep the doors closed. The showers feature removable showerheads and plenty of hot water. Towels are available for a non-refundable charge.
Our six-bed dorm had a locker assigned to each bunk. While this is a nice gesture, the lockers are flimsy and can be opened with a fingernail. This floor is very quiet, and the entire hostel has good noise control with hallway doors insulating the dorms from the common areas.
Common Spaces
The first floor hosts a small common room with couches; two computers; a television with DVD player; and a humble, subtitled video library. The hostel allows free unlimited internet, which would be a good thing except that guests are not encouraged to limit use when others are waiting. Wireless internet is available as well. There are many cultural and tourist event fliers and a small collection of travel books. In addition, each floor has a separate living room with a dining table, couches, and reading materials.
Each floor also has a large, well-equipped kitchen with microwave, stove, full table service, and cookware. These are kept immaculate jointly by the staff and guests. Breakfast is simple but made extraordinary by the fact that it is available all day and all night. Fresh pears, bread, jam, cereals, milk, coffee, and teas are in each kitchen at all times. We saved money by having this option for a mid-day (and midnight) snack. The kitchens and living rooms facilitate meeting people when first-floor common area gets crowded or too loud.
Summary
This hostel is a great place to stay while planning your trip, but there are no activities going on in the hostel itself. The owners treat you like family and the vibe is very low-key. Old Town is a great place to take a breather, recharge, and find inspiration for your travels in Lisbon.
The Location
Old Town is a short walk north of Cais do Sodre, a major public transportation hub featuring metro, bus, tram, and train. This makes it easy to navigate the city and find your way back home, as well as to direct a taxi back to a familiar area. Unfortunately, the walk from Cais do Sodre to the hostel is uphill -- a hill that feels evens steeper with a bag or backpack. It is easy to miss the hostel's unassuming cross street initially, but once you know what to look for, it's not difficult to find it again.
The neighborhood can be a bit dodgy from block to block, but the hostel has excellent security. Each guest buzzing in to the front gate is seen by video camera before being allowed in by the twenty-four-hour desk staff. All visitors must then walk in the front door and be seen by the front desk staff in order to gain access to the hostel.
Rooms and Bathrooms
We stayed on the hostel's newly opened second floor, which has its own kitchen, living room/dining area, bathrooms, and dorms. This floor has one men's bathroom and one bathroom with a co-ed sink area partitioned from the toilet and shower area that operates as a women's bathroom. These are kept very clean, although they get musty when guests keep the doors closed. The showers feature removable showerheads and plenty of hot water. Towels are available for a non-refundable charge.
Our six-bed dorm had a locker assigned to each bunk. While this is a nice gesture, the lockers are flimsy and can be opened with a fingernail. This floor is very quiet, and the entire hostel has good noise control with hallway doors insulating the dorms from the common areas.
Common Spaces
The first floor hosts a small common room with couches; two computers; a television with DVD player; and a humble, subtitled video library. The hostel allows free unlimited internet, which would be a good thing except that guests are not encouraged to limit use when others are waiting. Wireless internet is available as well. There are many cultural and tourist event fliers and a small collection of travel books. In addition, each floor has a separate living room with a dining table, couches, and reading materials.
Each floor also has a large, well-equipped kitchen with microwave, stove, full table service, and cookware. These are kept immaculate jointly by the staff and guests. Breakfast is simple but made extraordinary by the fact that it is available all day and all night. Fresh pears, bread, jam, cereals, milk, coffee, and teas are in each kitchen at all times. We saved money by having this option for a mid-day (and midnight) snack. The kitchens and living rooms facilitate meeting people when first-floor common area gets crowded or too loud.
Summary
This hostel is a great place to stay while planning your trip, but there are no activities going on in the hostel itself. The owners treat you like family and the vibe is very low-key. Old Town is a great place to take a breather, recharge, and find inspiration for your travels in Lisbon.
— Exclusive Hostelz.com Review
July 2008
Their Description
Lisbon Old Town Hostel Details
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Lisbon Old Town Hostel Reviews from the WebHostelz.com Guest Reviews
The Old Town Hostel is a very nice place with lot of character. It's very easy to meet people here and a good atmosphere is all around!
The hostel is in a wonderful position: practically in the centre of the city near the station Santa Apolonia and the night district. Anyway, the building isn't in a crowed street so it's very silent at night. There isn't any metro stops near by, the nearest is Baixa do Chiado.
Even is the hostel is situated in a residential street you will recognized it by the big green door.
The rooms are very big, bright and spacious. Everyone has his own locker and the bedbunk and mattress are quite good. Private rooms are also available but my advice is to book in advance because the hostel is always booked.
The bathrooms are a little bit small, especially the girl ones, however I don't remember any queue.
Anyway they are quite clean because they are cleaned daily.
The kitchen isn't very big and is equipped with the minimum: there are lots of dishes but a small fridge, just one sink and probably not enough pots. But the positive thing is the huge and free breakfast and the possibility to have cereals and milk all day long. Another good thing is the cleanliness: the kitchen was almost always clean and neat (but this depends most of all on the other guests of the house).
There are two common areas: the first one is just aside the reception. There are two sofas, a big tv, three computers with free internet and lots of pillows. It's a very nice and coloured room and it has a great atmosphere even because there's a huge window overlooked on the little (but cosy) outside place. The other common room is just aside the kitchen and has a big table where usually people have breakfast. Besides there are also sofas and a stereo.
This hostel has been for me my best experience in Lisbon. I had a wonderful time knowing lots of people. The staff is young and very kind, also the owner is pleasing! I think every backpacker can find here everything he needs: social life, good location, security, relaxed people, free breakfast and a very nice place to spend the time. — Laura , Italy (2009-03-17) Very good! One of the best hostel in my Portugal tour! The staff is very friendly and nice, breakfast is quite large, location is near the city center, and rooms are spacious. There's just two little negative side -- girls bathroom is quite small and kitchen is not so well equipped. Anyway, the hostel has a very good atmosphere so you can socialize really easily! I really enjoyed it! — Laura_Wood , Italy (2009-03-09)