Avenida Palace

Prós: The location, in the heart of Lisbon, is great.

Contras: You get the worst of the two worlds, old and new. The facilities are old, and oddly for a historical hotel, quite charmless. The rooms are dark, the bedding cheap, and the room furniture straight out of the seventies. Although "run-down" would be an exaggeration, the hotel seriously needs a face lift, a bit more comfort, and some taste in its decorations (throwing sloppily a hodge-podge of old-looking furniture doesn't really do it, nor holding on to carpets that haven't been changed in twenty years.) The amenities are next to non-existent (for example, the hotel does not have a restaurant.) You obviously cannot expect a historical hotel to have the same level of comfort and the same amenities as a modern one. But would it be too much to ask that a five-star try? You pay for five-star and you get a three-star.