Browns Avenue Hotel

"I can’t say enough great things about my experience at Brown’s Avenue Hotel. From the moment I walked in, the hotel felt stylish, modern, and thoughtfully designed. The lobby is beautiful with comfortable seating, and the separate library lounge is another chic and inviting space to relax. My room was wonderful—comfortable bed, great amenities, and everything I needed for a perfect stay. The staff were friendly, attentive, and created an overall positive atmosphere. The standout of my stay was the on-site restaurant. The food was exceptional and the service was even better. I tried both breakfast (buffet and à la carte) as well as a steak dinner, and each meal was genuinely 5/5. It’s rare to find a hotel restaurant that becomes a highlight of the trip, but this one absolutely did. The location is also ideal. It’s walking distance to Alfama and several central Lisbon neighborhoods, and when I needed to get around quickly, Bolt rides were fast and inexpensive. Overall, I would 100% stay here again—and honestly, I probably wouldn’t even consider another hotel given how fantastic the entire experience was."

"This was our first trip to Portugal, and we chose Brown’s Avenue Hotel for our first night based on its photos and the promise of a cute, boutique atmosphere in a walkable area. While the hotel is aesthetically charming, it ultimately fell far short of expectations—mainly due to shockingly poor service. The Good The hotel is visually very cute, with thoughtful touches in the room such as a complimentary bottle of wine, a Bluetooth speaker, and interesting books. Breakfast was lovely, with a generous spread of fruit, yogurt, pastries, eggs, meats, cheeses, and more, plus an à la carte menu for additional items. The location is very walkable. The Not-So-Good The room was extremely small—even by European boutique standards. For a five-star property, the space felt uncomfortably tight. The neighborhood, while high-end, wasn’t what we were looking for. Think Fifth Avenue in New York: designer stores like Louis Vuitton and Prada, but not much of the charm we hoped for. The Very Bad: Service This is where the experience completely unraveled. After an exhausting long-haul travel day, we arrived to a doorman who seemed irritated as he moved cones to let our driver pull in. Inside, the front desk staff greeted us with four frowning faces—no warmth, no welcome, and certainly no hospitality. One woman in particular seemed almost delighted to tell me: that our room wouldn’t be ready for another five hours, and which areas of the hotel we would not be allowed to access due to private events. Her tone and demeanor were shockingly rude. I’ve traveled extensively, and I can honestly say I have never encountered service this unfriendly at any hotel, let alone one claiming to be five stars. After reading other recent reviews, it’s clear our experience was not an isolated one. Thankfully, one woman in the restaurant was polite and actually smiled. She was the lone bright spot in an otherwise unpleasant service experience. Final Thoughts We were only staying one night, and we were relieved to move to a four-star hotel in Baixa the next day—one with larger, more comfortable rooms and far friendlier staff. Brown’s Avenue may look like a five-star boutique hotel, but the customer service was nowhere near that level. Unfortunately, the rude and unwelcoming behavior overshadowed what could have been a perfectly nice stay."

"THE GOOD: 1. The hotel is super swanky and cute with incredible decorations and appliances (Smeg fridge, Smeg coffee pot, and Marshall radios/speakers in the rooms). 2. Very centrally located. A short walk to all the high end shops (a bit touristy, but still very nice) 3. The ladies that took care of housekeeping were always very friendly and nice to us THE BAD: 1. My husband and I stayed 4 nights for his birthday, and from the moment we checked in, the front desk staff was either dismissive or INCREDIBLY rude to us the entire time we were there. 2. They never greeted us once when we’d enter or leave the hotel. I’d wait, and if I saw they weren’t going to greet us, I’d always say hello and thank you in Portuguese. I’d say 9 times out of 10 we’d get no response. 3. The day we checked out, there was a gentleman helping another couple (they spoke Portuguese) get into their Uber. Once he helped them get in, he silently walked right past us. 4. Our entire stay we felt uncomfortable, out of place and very unwelcome. So I’ve been trying to figure out if maybe we did something to them that warranted the rudeness, and in all honesty, I can’t think of a single thing. If anything, I think I was almost going out of my way to be nice because they were so non-responsive to us - I thought perhaps we were rude at one point. But no. I did realize that people in Portugal seemed to be a little less friendly, and I’m sure being American + German didn’t help our cause. But both my husband and I tried to speak basic Portuguese, so we didn’t come off as those entitled people who expect everyone to speak English in other countries. Despite making an effort to assimilate, be kind and respect people, the treatment we received was very disappointing. We did encounter some amazingly lovely people in Portugal, but the staff at Brown’s Avenue Hotel was definitely not part of that group. We definitely will not be staying there again."