Largo da Sé Guest House

The long story short is this: I would come back here again (but perhaps w/ a private bathroom) because the location is in my Portuguese Lisboner opinion; perfect, it's the sweet spot. Let me start by addressing the two elephants in the room: 1) Yes, the walls are paper thin, you can hear other rooms, the tram, the nightly bin workers, ert. But by reading the reviews I managed to prepare. Take earplugs, buy some wax ones as they're non-expensive and adjust to your individual ear canals better than the foam ones. I could not hear a peep and slept like a rock. 2) Thieves... Daniel (one of the hosts receptionists) evaded my question when I confronted him about it, honestly I didn't like him, felt fake. Cátia (the other receptionist) however was an absolute joy to be around. I didn't want people in my room, especially thieving staff, so I took a £20-£30 Amazon baby/pet monitor camera and set it up with the accommodation Wifi and had it on at all times whislt I was out, with . I also set my "do not disturb" sign the entire time, even when out. I did not want the bed made or towels replaced unless I personally requested it while there. I did not warn the staff of the camera, and I can say with 100% certainty that no one ever came into my room, so they respected the "do not disturb" sign. I took all valuables with me, they do not have a vault, so take your wallet, take your cash, and take your passport. Nothing went missing from my room. As for outside, store valuables deep into your bags. The usual anti-theft advice applies: take backpacks, not shoulder bags, do not store valuables on outer pockets. And do NOT hold phones or cameras out without it being strapped to your wrist/neck. I resent people calling us Portuguese all thieves. No, we are not, thieves exist everywhere, but if you look like a tourist and you take zero precautions, you will be robbed, especially during high season in May-Sep. Victim blaming? Yes. Dumb tourists? Also yes. So don't be one. Now, the room. I went for the 'superior room' (it faces the church, better view), it has a shared bathroom, which was fine and seemed well kept. I did not shower whilst there because I took bo flip-flops and don't want to catch Athlete's Foot. The place is a halfway between hotel and hostel essentially. You do have your own lockable room, but share bathrooms apart from 2 rooms that do have their own bathroom (but no nice view to the Sé church). I've already spoke about the noise, other than that this place is the perfect HQ for walking lovers like me, you are one stone throw's away from Alfama and it's Miradouros/Vistas, the Castle of São Jorge, and the Praça do Comércio (commerce square). As well as Rossio and all the transport links you can wish for, such as the 28 (you literally have a stop 5 seconds away), the Metro (Rossio or Praça), as well as buses and modern/1930's trams. This area is also quieter than the centre such as Rossio, Restauradores, Chiado, or any of the downtown streets with its bars and restaurants, so in my view this is the perfect sweetspot. The pricing is more than fair, and very affordable for what it is. If you find a deal on Hotels.com or Booking.com, just call the HOrigem Sé Guest House instead and they can offer you a better deal as they can avoid the commissions charged by agencies. The sheets could do with being replaced, and they have been yellowed out over time, but they are washed and bacteria free, so I don't care, I'm not precious. If you are, you can request fresh sheets, but these might be yellowed out too, so perhaps avoid it if you're nitpicky. The sheets always smelled clean, but I really think the owners need to look at sheets as a consumable to be replaced, not a permanent fixture. I don't think anyone cares if the sheets are umbranded with the HOrigem logo, people just want pristine white sheets, so to the owners making a ton of money from this constantly fully booked place; just get on with it, get new sheets because it's leaving a bad impression and it's the bear minimum expected of the hotel industry. Andreia

Diego is very kind and helpful. Rooms might not be the best considering how thin the walls and doors are, but experience was really good!!

Amazing location and decent level of comfort for the price. The reception area is very nice and the staff is helpful. The walls are thin, showers are small, and the tram makes a lot of noise. But honestly for the price and location, this still felt like a good deal.