Portugal photographs beautifully. Sun-bleached tiles, pastel façades, cobbled lanes winding up to a viewpoint. It’s easy to fall in love with a listing before you’ve thought about what it’s actually like to live in that space for a week or two.
We’ve worked with thousands of families and travellers visiting Lisbon (and Paris), including families with small children and guests with respiratory conditions or limited mobility. Because we’re the ones who get the call at 9 pm when a child can’t breathe in a musty apartment, or when a wheelchair simply can’t get down the street to the front door, we’ve learned exactly what to check before you book. It is the things that never show up in the photos or listings on Airbnb or Booking.com that make the difference.
Here’s what to look for, and what to do if you’re already booked and something’s not right.
Mould and damp
This is the big one, and it’s far more common than people expect. The older buildings with north-facing rooms, small windows, and no air conditioning or heating tend to have mouldy walls covered with fresh paint to hide the issue. Poor ventilation traps moisture, and moisture plus old stone or plaster is a recipe for mould, musty smells, and genuinely poor air quality. If you are travelling with a small child or anyone in your group has asthma, allergies, or any respiratory sensitivity, this isn’t a minor inconvenience. It is a serious concern that can derail the whole trip.
What to do:
- Ask the host directly whether the apartment gets direct sunlight, and which way it faces. A north-facing apartment in a narrow street rarely dries out properly.
- Look closely at photos for water stains near windows, corners, or skirting boards.
- If you’re already there and something feels off, the best fix is genuinely to change accommodation if you can. If that’s not realistic, a portable air purifier, dehumidifier, or a small AC/heating unit makes a real difference and helps you air the space properly. This is exactly the kind of equipment we rent out to guests in this situation.
Location — check the map, not just the name
Neighbourhood names can be misleading, and “city centre” doesn’t automatically mean “ideal.” Some areas are simply more comfortable to stay in than others. Martim Moniz, for example, sits right in the historic centre and is convenient on paper, but it’s not going to suit everyone. It’s worth reading up on an area honestly rather than assuming central means best. Always drop a pin on the actual map coordinates the listing gives you, not just the neighbourhood label, and have a look at street-level images if you can.
Accessibility
Lisbon’s charm – the hills, the narrow calçada pavements and the historic layout is exactly what makes it hard going for wheelchairs, strollers, or anyone with limited mobility. Areas like Alfama and parts of the historic centre have narrow, uneven, sloped pavements that are genuinely difficult to navigate, and in peak season they’re crowded enough that you’ll often end up pushed off the pavement and onto the road with the traffic.
A few practical points:
- The hills aren’t just tiring. They can make a route that looks short on a map take three times as long with a stroller or wheelchair.
- Many of these streets are private roads or pedestrian lanes, which means Uber and Bolt often can’t drop you at the door. Ask the host exactly how close a car can actually get, not just the walking distance from a main road.
- If elevators matter to you, ask specifically and confirm if they fit a wheelchair/stroller if you are using one. A huge number of Lisbon’s older buildings simply don’t have one, and “4th floor” in a listing can mean four flights of narrow stairs with no alternative.
Noise
You can’t always tell from a listing whether the windows are single, double, or triple glazed, and you often won’t know until you’re lying in bed on your first night. Since it’s hard to verify in advance, the more reliable fix is to come prepared: a white noise machine is a simple, effective way to help a child (or anyone) sleep through street noise, bars, or early morning deliveries.
Restaurants and bars downstairs
A ground-floor restaurant or bar can be a lovely convenience. Until it’s 1 am and you’re trying to get a child to sleep. Check what’s directly below or next to the building, not just around the corner. This matters a lot if you’re staying in areas like Bairro Alto, which is genuinely one of the liveliest nightlife spots in Lisbon and can stay loud well into the early hours. If you’re booking there, earplugs aren’t a nice-to-have; they’re a necessity.
Shops closing early
Many local shops and supermarkets in Lisbon close by 9 pm, and some smaller ones even earlier. If you land late, have a long day out, or simply forget to stock up, you can end up with no easy way to get essentials for the evening or the next morning. This is where our concierge service comes in. If you’re caught out after hours, we can take care of the shopping for you so you’re not stuck.
Light and shutter quality
In summer, the sun in Portugal stays up late. It is lovely for evenings out, and less lovely for a toddler’s 7 pm bedtime. Not every apartment has proper blackout shutters, and thin curtains won’t cut it. If you’re travelling with young children, check specifically whether the bedroom has functioning blackout shutters. We rent out SlumberPods and blackout curtains for exactly this reason. It’s one of the simplest ways to protect a child’s sleep schedule while you’re away.
If you’re planning to work from your accommodation
A few extra things worth confirming before you book:
- Ask about actual measured internet speed, not just “wifi available” — older buildings with thick stone walls can weaken a router signal room to room.
- Check for a proper desk and chair; plenty of beautiful listings have gorgeous photos but nowhere ergonomic to sit for a full workday. If you need one, we have got you covered.
- Confirm plug sockets and their location. Some apartments have very few, often clustered in one corner of a room. We rent out extension cords with international plugs, which can save you running around looking for the right solution.
The bottom line
None of this means you should avoid these neighbourhoods or skip the beautiful old buildings — it just means booking with your eyes open. A quick message to the host, a careful look at the map, and a bit of planning around equipment can be the difference between a holiday that goes smoothly and one that doesn’t. And if something does go wrong once you’ve arrived, remember that a lot of these issues have simple equipment fixes, even if you can’t change the accommodation itself.
About Rent Anything
This article is published by Rent Anything. Here is what the service is, in case you arrived here from a search.
What is Rent Anything?
Rent Anything is a short-term and mid-term equipment rental service operating in Lisbon and Paris.
Equipment rental refers to paying a daily rate for an item you use and then hand back, rather than buying it or carrying it with you. A mid-term rental means that the booking runs for weeks or months rather than days. Five ranges are stocked: baby and children's gear, mobility equipment, remote-work tech, home and living, and travel and outdoors. In short, you travel light and it is waiting when you arrive.
How does renting work?
Four steps: browse the catalogue, book your dates, take delivery or collect, then return the item at the end.
Rates are quoted per day and fall the longer you rent, because every product carries a rate ladder, also known as pricing tiers, rather than one flat price. For example, a week costs less per day than a weekend does. A minimum rental period refers to the shortest booking an item accepts, and it is stated on that item's own page beside its live availability. According to our own how-it-works guide, there is no deposit at any point. Therefore the figure shown for your dates is what those dates cost, not a starting price. Source: How it works.
Where do you deliver?
Across Lisbon and Paris, including both cities' airports and the Lisbon Cruise Terminal.
Delivery refers to us bringing the item to where you are staying - hotels, Airbnbs, serviced apartments and private residences - rather than you finding a depot. Specifically, it is priced from the distance between our warehouse in that city and the address you give, so the fee appears at checkout. In addition, free cancellation means that a booking can be cancelled at no charge up to 24 hours before it starts. Simply put, you book the address you are staying at and we handle both ends. Source: Frequently asked questions.
In summary
Key takeaways
- Equipment rental in Lisbon and Paris, delivered to where you are staying.
- Per-day rates that fall with length. No minimum period, no deposit.
- Free cancellation up to 24 hours before the start date.
- Everything is cleaned and sanitised between rentals.
Live prices and availability for any single item are on its own page. Source: the full catalogue.
