Casa do Barão Review
After a night at the Holiday Inn Express, I moved to the Rick Steves‘ recommended Casa do Barão located in Chiado. A boutique hotel run by two cousins, Casa do Barão is in a refurbished 18th century mansion.
Location
Casa do Barão is in the quiet area of Chaido, just 2 blocks from Praça Luís de Camões square where you can catch the tourist favorite Tram 28. The closest subway stop is Baixa-Chiado; however from the subway stop it is a 250m walk mostly uphill. If you are coming from the airport, I would strongly suggest taking an Uber (€10-15).
Check In
Casa do Barão only has 12 guestrooms. Besides the cleaners, the only staff are the two cousins, Sara and Roberto, that run the property. They are there working during the day, but there is no front desk. You will need to arrange your arrival time with one of the cousins prior to your arrival. Don’t worry, they will email you to find out what time you will arrive and will be there to meet you. I’m not sure how they would handle a late night arrival; you would be smart to email them prior to booking.
I booked a Superior Room with Balcony and was upgraded to a larger Deluxe Room with Balcony. The cost was €155/night. As I was traveling with my mom, I requested a room with two twin beds.
When I arrived at noon, Roberto greeted me and gave me a tour of the property. He had a folder of information for me and let me know that my room would be ready in about 1 hour. I left my bag and went out to explore.
While there is no lobby in a traditional sense, there is common space on the ground floor including a library, living room, and dining area. Complimentary cakes and coffee are available all day. There is a small honor bar where guests can purchase soda, beer, and wine. The common space is closed after 11:00pm as there are two guest rooms off the library.
There is also an outdoor space with pool.
Room
My mom and I were assigned room 13 on the first floor. As you enter the room, you walk through the bathroom space before entering the bedroom.
A small desk and closet are against one wall while the beds (that could be converted to a double/queen bed) are against another. The beds face a small wall mounted TV. The entire room has quite high ceilings.
The glass doors open to a juliet balcony above the narrow residential street. There was noise in the evening as people headed home from the nearby bars.
There is no coffee/tea service in the room. There is a safe however I couldn’t get it to work. Each room has an air conditioning unit but either ours wasn’t working or turned off for the winter/spring.
Bathroom
The single sink is located in the open space outside the bedroom.
Opposite the sink in an enclosed room is the toilet and shower. The shower has both rain shower head and handheld wand.
The bath products provided included soap, shampoo (no conditioner), bath gel and lotion.
Breakfast
Breakfast is included and served in the small dining room until 11:00am. Options included fresh fruit, various breads, an egg dish, cereal, meat and cheese as well as juices and coffee.
Overall
Casa do Barão is a wonderful small hotel in a great location. The rooms are modern, the staff attentive, and comes with a lot of character. I would recommend a stay at Casa do Barão when in Lisbon.