Brown's | Downtown Hotel

I’d really like to give this property a five-star rating, but one major downside holds me back, unfortunately. First the pros: - Very central location in the middle of Lisbon’s touristy area, just a two-minute walk from Baixa-Chiado metro station (roughly 30 minutes from the airport with one transfer at Alameda) - Warm, friendly staff who were welcoming and helpful, especially the gentleman at check-in - Cozy boutique hotel atmosphere throughout, warm lighting in both public spaces and rooms - Small but much appreciated signs of hospitality and generosity like a welcome drink (to be taken in the bar of an equally cozy sister hotel just steps away), rooms equipped with a Nespresso machine including a good amount of capsules, nice teas, a bottle of quality water, a self-serve coffee machine with some sweet treats in the lobby The cozy, clean and well-appointed room was, as stated by other reviewers, indeed small. I knew this before booking and could manage it as I was traveling solo this time. That being said, I could see some difficulties for couples with larger luggage (they do offer more spacious room options, though). Up until here, the hotel would have been an easy five-star experience. So why the deduction of one star? Simply put: it was quite noisy! Not from the outside (my room went out to a kind of unattractive courtyard and had a well insulated window anyway) but you’ll hear everything from the neighboring rooms. Not only is the wall insulation bad, but they also have very creaky hardwood floors. I was lucky in being assigned a room on the fifth and highest floor, but even the creaking from the neighboring room late at night negatively impacted what I had come for in the first place: a good night’s sleep. Plus, having to get up early to shower, dress and pack for a morning flight, the noise I created myself also made me feel bad for my fellow guests. If it wasn’t for the (self-experienced at night and self-created in the morning) noise, this hotel would have fully deserved five stars within its category. As it is, I’ll give it a well-meant four stars and recommend it with the caveat explained above.

A very nice hotel overall. The room was a bit small for two people with luggage, but it was clean and well maintained. The lobby felt warm and inviting. The staff were fantastic—special thanks to Merrisa and Bruno, who were among the most helpful and welcoming team members we’ve met in our European travels. Well done!

This is a very charming hotel in a great location. The hotel staff made it the perfect ending to our European vacation. The staff went out of their way to help us celebrate our 39th wedding anniversary. Thank you so much for the wonderful welcome surprise. They all took time to give us directions and answer all our questions. The hotel room was exactly like advertised with everything we needed and more. Your hospitality was greatly appreciated. Thank you so much!!

What a pretty hotel ! Their attention to detail in room was spot on. Right from 4 types of glasses ( espresso / coffee/ water) to Marshall speakers to good smart tv, electric kettle… everything was perfect. Love the aesthetic of the room

Great location. Clean. Close to everything. Friendly staff. Love their lobby with free tea and coffee. They have lots of TV channels! The wall is a bit thin - I can hear neighbors taking shower, people walking in the corridor, some kids yelling next door...I need some quietness. Room is a bit small. Only can put luggage in the corridor. It has such strong perfume smell when I first entered, I have to open the window to get the smell out. This hotel has a bizarre key lock setup. This is a huge inconvenience personally. I hate their main hotel lobby door. I got a bruised finger because of it....

Overall, the hotel and staff are wonderful. We did have some issues, however, with the suite.||Pros:|-the suite is huge (just as pictured in the photos)|-housekeeping kept the room immaculate and refilled coffee, etc.|-complimentary bottles of water at the front desk|-warm, friendly and helpful staff |-we were greeted with a bottle of lovely sparkling wine as we were celebrating an anniversary and birthday on this holiday |-steps away from shopping, bakeries, restaurants and sites ||Cons:|-The castle view suites are on the 6th floor and the elevator only goes up to the 5th floor. It is one full flight of stairs between floors, not “a few steps” as we were told. We are able-bodied and could manage the baggage, but this could be challenging for other travelers.|-We were there on very hot days and the room (on the attic level) also became extremely hot - even with the air conditioner on full blast. It got so hot in the bathroom that some of our products melted. Oddly, there are no curtains on the bathroom windows, so we needed to block them with robes. There is also a privacy issue with construction workers on the roof of a neighboring building. In the room, we needed to keep the shutters closed all day because of the heat. That was really a shame because the views are phenomenal. The skylight window has a shade, but became brutally hot to the touch. If you are affected by heat/high temperatures, the suite is not for you during the summer. I cannot speak for other seasons.||While the staff provided a fan and checked the air con, due to the heat issues, we would not stay there in a suite again. It’s a shame because the hotel otherwise has a lot going for it.

Since there’s nothing bad, there’s nothing to say at all 😅 Super clean, nice size when it comes to the room, decoration on point. Little problem: The bathroom was kinda ‚wet‘ after I used the shower, cause it wasn’t closing properly, but that’s one issue I don’t care about. Besides that: everything was spotless, super clean room, one of the cleanest I’ve ever been in. Mattress was on the harder side, which I like a lot, supports the back pretty good! Also: the mattress was one unit and not two separated ones with a gap in the middle.

I'd definitely stay here again. It was one street back from the main street, but without the city noise. The room was well-equipped with fridge, safe, iron and coffee machine. The hotel had a relaxed vibe. The staff were really helpful and friendly, and gave lots of advice for exploring the city.

This hotel was a solid "pretty good"! We stayed at Brown's for 3 nights at the end of September and enjoyed our stay. We didn't spend much time in the room but here's what I'll say. The pros: - Great location! Central to just about everything. 2-5 minute walk to most tourist attractions like the elevator and 10-15 minute walk to great dining. Short 20 min uber ride to the airport, train station, etc. - Well-equipped room with espresso machine that made good coffee as well as a tea kettle - Really high quality bluetooth speaker available in the room. Nice touch! - Mini fridge with refillable water bottle. There was a water station in the lobby along with more coffee and tea - Free bottle of wine! We didn't drink it but we appreciated the gesture. - Good sized storage space for shoes, hangers, luggage - Plenty of outlets The cons: - Bed was a bit firm - probably just a matter of my own personal taste - Small, thin pillows - TV in the room but it wasn't working at all - A bit loud at times, you could hear everything in the hallway - HUGE bathroom but super small sink and shower. Shower pressure wasn't great either A few other things to keep in mind: if you have an early flight, be prepared to not be able to check in early. I realize this was based on availability and we were prepared to wait for a bit after our 9am arrival. However, as the only other people waiting for a room in the lobby, we literally didn't get our room until 10 minutes before check in. Either they are operating at a 99% occupancy on a regular basis (unlikely) or it just takes them a reaaally long time to turn over rooms. I definitely fell asleep in the lobby and would've loved to have gotten into the room earlier after a long red eye flight. They also use heavy metal keys and charge a hefty fee if you lose it. They recommend leaving the key at the concierge desk when you go out. Not a huge deal but could be considered inconvenient depending on your preference.

BEWARE OF THIS HOTEL! This hotel is unsafe. Uneven floors and lack of railings. I fell shattered my arm in lobby. Management told me that I was not the only one that had fell in this spot. Management said they would take responsibility for some of my medical. Never received a dime. Beware of this hotel

I'm so excited to write this review! My husband and I just got back from our honeymoon in Lisbon and stayed here. Manuel was the gentlemen who helped us get situated and checked in. He was very informative with what to do and what sights not to miss. Upon finding out that we were celebrating our honeymoon, he sent a bottle of champagne up to our room. The room was clean and modern. At the same time it was very warm and cozy. We stayed in an upgraded room and it was very large. Like it's been said in previous reviews, every room comes with a Mac and an iPad. We only used the Mac to connect and charge our USB powered devices. The hotel is literally so close to shopping and amazing restaurants! Also close to the metro. If you're reading this and deciding on where to stay, book your stay here! They're great!

Lovely hotel in the heart of Lisbon, between two major squares. 24 hour desk, courteous individuals and housekeeping even late in the day. Rooms are a little small. Our biggest problem were the water regulator in the bathroom- quite a challenge to get the temperature just right, between impossibly hot and icy cold. Overall, a very positive experience...

Hipster chic over cleanliness! I smelled an odor of rotten trash as I entered and especially in the elevator. The room had so much perfumed room deodorizer I had to open the windows. Our room was chocked full furniture with little to no space to walk around the bed or open our small bags. There's a 4 poster bed without a canopy but it's sitting on a platform so you'll trip when getting out. The bathroom was not clean...Stains on the marble floor, paint ALL OVER the fixtures, dirt in the corners and track of the sliding door. The shower is burning hot or tepid with no in between. That being said, the location is good. I would not stay there again.

This could be a fantastic hotel. The location, the design and decoration are marvelous! I would call this a hipster hotel with many 2.0 features. All rooms are equipped with an iMac and iPad, AC, key lock for all the lights, automatic light at entering the corridors (which is very scary if it doesn't work, the halls are pitch dark), a fully equipped kitchenette, TV, radio, vault, ironing board, etc. Very good. The bed was very hard, a bit too hard for me, but that might be personal taste. The linen was good, although I didn't get fresh sheets in 5 days. It's a few things that made me give 3 stars instead of 4 which I would've give if everything was as fine as it looks. First, the bathroom, very very small in this single use also very small room (311) but I can handle small. It was the smell of old wet stuff that bothered me. The case was that the shower door didn't fully close, so every day the whole floor got flushed. That must have happened for a long time, because the floor was brown with water stains. Why not fix this as soon as you notice? Second, the very friendly front desk staff didn't answer my calling from the room three different times over. When I walked down immediately after calling the first time, the desk employee wasn't busy but told me she could've been. She promised me to have housekeeping vacuuming my room the next morning but this didn't happen, like the rest of the week. (Two coffee cups had rolled out of the cupboard and she helped out cleaning the big broken pieces). Also when I complained about the AC, which seemed hard to handle for me, the staff promised me to check the floor and the room but never followed up on that to me. In the end I just turned the AC off. On checking out I spoke to the front desk staff again, she explained that all the rooms have this bathroom problem. The design doesn't meet up with logic and day to day reality here. Although they complain to the owner often and show him the figures about maintenance and laundry, he doesn't seem to be eager to fix this problem in this 3* hotel. Hmm. I felt sorry for the great friendly staff. All in all I would like to come back to this hotel but the have to fix the bathrooms!

Horrible experience. Don't stay here. Our room wasn't ready when we went to check in, but we were told it would be ready in an hour. Having come off a red eye without any sleep, we waited the hour in the lobby. When we went to check to see if the room was ready after the hour was up, we were met with a horrendous attitude and told "No and we aren't obligated to give you a room at this time because it's not officially check in." Eventually, several hours later, we got our room and went back to the front desk to see if they had received tickets for a football game that we had mailed to the hotel (we had cleared this with the hotel weeks in advance and confirmed that they would be on the lookout for the tickets days before we arrived). They insisted that the tickets were never received. Finally, after some insistence, the person at the front desk agreed to check again. Our tickets had been there all along and we just barely made the game. The reception staff also gave us advice on when to go to Sintra (which turned out to be impossible because it was the day of a train strike that was announced days in advance apparently) and the most affordable way to get around via the subway (turns out they gave us the most expensive, least necessary option). Finally, the pipe under our sink in our hotel bathroom leaked incessantly, there was hardly any light in the room, and we were constantly awoken by noises from other guests dragging luggage on the stairs or sounds from outside because the walls were so thin. This was the worst 3-star hotel experience I have ever had. Avoid if you can.

Rooms are small but clean. They have ipads and computers in every room which was kind of cool. They have a free coffee/espresso machine in the lobby which is always a plus! Right downtown in walking distance to everything. I would stay here again.