Lisbon São Bento Hotel

“Experience doesn't correspond to the pictures on a booking site.”

We checked into this hotel today and were extremely disappointed with the room we received. The photos shown on the booking website are clearly misleading and do not reflect reality at all. The room is unacceptably small — there is barely any space to open suitcases, let alone move around safely. … more

We checked into this hotel today and were extremely disappointed with the room we received. The photos shown on the booking website are clearly misleading and do not reflect reality at all. The room is unacceptably small — there is barely any space to open suitcases, let alone move around safely. This is not just inconvenient, it’s uncomfortable and poorly designed for any traveler staying more than one night. The bathroom is another major issue (the cleaning is good). The lighting in the shower area is extremely dim, making it difficult to even see properly. There is no additional lighting for basic needs like shaving or applying makeup, which is a basic expectation for any hotel. To make matters worse, there was no shampoo provided, which is a standard amenity. The wardrobe is also incomplete — it only has one door (the right one), which makes it look broken or poorly maintained. Overall, this feels like false advertising. What is shown online sets completely different expectations than what is actually delivered. We expect the hotel management to address this situation immediately — either by offering a room that matches the advertised standard or providing appropriate compensation. This is not the level of quality or honesty guests should be dealing with.

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“Nice area, hotel OK, good breakfast”

A low 3 star hotel. Bedroom small and shower cubicle very small with a sliding glass door very stiff. Nice staff and breakfast. The area is OK. Not too far to a great cafe and to the statue of Pombal.

“Take care when booking and paying direct”

The Hotel is reasonably quiet, especially at the back. The road outside has traffic and buses but was not overly busy or noisy. The location is on a hill which makes getting to the centre easy. There are plenty of local buses and trams to get around and the hotel is close to a metro station. Th… more

The Hotel is reasonably quiet, especially at the back. The road outside has traffic and buses but was not overly busy or noisy. The location is on a hill which makes getting to the centre easy. There are plenty of local buses and trams to get around and the hotel is close to a metro station. The hotel has a feel of a converted office block, as the bathroom is a glass cubicle rather than a separate room, and the facilities have been squeezed in. The shower cubicle is on the small side and my friends shower doors didn't seal completely, leaving a damp floor. The rooms are clean and the beds comfortable. I noted that there were plenty of power points which is not always the case. There were some minor niggles (eg the key card electric switch in my room didn't cut the power when no key, and the shower head and toilet roll holder in my friends room were broken) although none worth complaining about. I travel a lot and do complain if necessary. Breakfast was adequate, and although there were some complaints on-line about it running out it was not our experience with top up supplies coming from the kitchen at regular intervals. The complementary coffee/tea machine and water was welcomed and was nice to relax with in the evening after coming back from a meal. Although the reception staff were mostly friendly and helpful there was a major issue on checking in, which was not great customer service. The T's & C's say when booking direct you have to pay 2 days before (in very very small writing). Request for payment came unexpectedly (in Portuguese) from a 3rd party credit card company, which went into my computer email spam folder and looked like a phishing attempt. By the time I was contacted by the hotel and realised it was genuine, the time limited encrypted link had expired (it was a bank holiday weekend in UK) and I was unable to pay by credit card. The hotel sent a blunt message to threaten that unless I paid, the reservation would be cancelled. Their email advised as an alternative I could pay by bank transfer, which I did. I tried to ring but could only get through with WhatsApp messages to explain, but I sent a copy of the payment confirmation via email. On arrival the reception staff were unable to confirm that I had paid (because payment was over a weekend), and it was most uncomfortable even though I offered to provide credit card details to be used if payment had not been received by the time of check out. Not the best customer service experience. Note to hotel - you should make the terms and conditions for advance direct payment more obvious on your invoice and notify customers in advance, preferably one or two days beforehand that the payment email will be sent by a named third party that they should look out for as not everybody can respond or make credit card payments immediately that the request is made. Using time limited encrypted payment links is fine but a second link should be available if the first expires without being used.

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