Unfortunately, the Evidencia Sta. Catarina is nothing better than an expensive hostel. I had booked the hotel for 7 nights and requested a quiet room. Upon arriving I was given the keys to my room. It was tiny, very stuffy and incredibly hot. There was no air-conditioning, only a fan, and the windows could not be left open as I was on the ground floor facing a side street (hardly any cars but since the hotel is in Bairro Alto with a lot of tourists partying at night) and since there were no curtains those passing by could look into my room. The room smelled awful with the smell coming from the shower. The towels were stained and the room itself was in bad shape. Stains on the floor, very dusty, squished insects on the bathroom walls whose floor was cracked. The walls are covered with fabric which is torn and dirty. Some of the corners show signs of mould. Upon complaining and asking to cancel my reservation, I was told that this was not possible. I would have to send an email to PortugalWays and they would review it and then decide whether they would cancel reservation and reimburse me. I asked to speak to the supervisor but she wasn't in the office. The woman I spoke to was very unfriendly and not at all customer-oriented. She basically told me that the housekeeping could clean my room the next day (housekeeping only comes between 7:30 am to 2 pm) but that they would neither cancel my reservation nor reimburse me. Two days later I could move into a new room on the 2nd floor, so windows could be opened but the room was in the same terrible state. The shower is too small for a fully grown man and it floods the bathroom (the doorposts have already absorbed the humidity and cracked). I asked them to replace the towels and was told that they only replaced the towels and cleaned the rooms every third day. Over all, I had the feeling that they never cleaned my room. I placed certain items on the floor and would find them in the very same place upon my return. When I asked about the towels, I was also told that maybe I didn't know how to use a shower curtain. The beds are very old and after finding hair and other spots, I did not dare to check what the mattress looked like. The breakfast is very frugal: Bread, some yogurts, cheese (if you're lucky), butter, some cereal, bad coffee, and something that looks like juice but isn't. I prepared my breakfast and wanted to take it on the terrace, upon stepping out, I almost fell. When I lifted the doormat, I saw that the floor was cracked and broken and that someone had just covered it with a rug. During my stay, I spoke to different other guests who had experienced the same including arriving and the room not having been prepared and the previous guest's sheets still being on the bed. All in all, I have to say that this "hotel" does not deserve two stars, it's dirty, the rooms are in a terrible state, the staff blames the guests for the problems there are and so does the head office (only the receptionist is very kind and does feel embarrassed about the state of things). It is nothing more than an expensive hostel. Please also check the pictures I have attached which prove the terrible conditions.

The only positive thing on this place is its location otherwise avoid. The hotel is very dirty and unkept place. The mold smell is everywhere as well as dirty stains. The towels are biohazard on its own. The room service doesn’t exists and your trash is soon overflowing the trash bin. They are claiming to be renovating in the future, they should. The street around the hotel is filled with drug dealers and it is bit risky.

Toilet/bathroom is so small that is hard to sit down with comfort. Lack of toilet's doors makes also room humid. Hard to sleep with open window due to very noissy aircondisioning machine outside. Very dirty carpet - carpet is not a practical solution - especially in a hostel. Wifi is ok. Bed ok. Window is new and enables total darkness when needed.

Nearby different important building and historical site seeing. Lots of nice restaurant and backeries were you can eat breakfast and drink the best strong coffee (like bica). Good transportation possible. I recommend this one also... the host is very polite and helpfull to make your stay more pleasant ! Room is small but big enough for 2 persons. The bathroom is fully packed with a small shower also provide nice hot water and curtain. Toilet and a small sink to brush your teeth covers it all to have a good stay in the middle of the city ..

One star because is not possible to give no stars. BED BUGS will be the only host you will meet at this hostel. Refund is not recognised, even if you give proof and evidence of bugs presence and/or bites. Furthermore, there's no check-in procedure, so you are asked to pay in advance for your staying, for municipal fees and VAT 23%. However, since it's unlikely you will be checked in or registered to this facility, municipal fees and VAT will not be corresponded to the fiscal authorities. Is this kind of fraud? If local authorities or by law enforcement ask you for proof of your staying during your holiday, let's say while you are just strolling around Xiado or Run Aurea, and you are not able to give proof of your check-in or registration of your accomodation, you will be fined up to 350€. Evidencia Sta Catarina will not refund this fine. You could also find dried puke right outside the balcony or used plasters sticked to the walls. Bathroom is essential. Wash basin is 10cm x 15cm, but probably there's a BK or MCs nearby where you could wash your face early in the morning. You shall not take any luggage, since there's no space where to store it, whatever room you'll be assigned. Awful experience, 450€ wasted. 25€ refund from Booking. Com. I absolutely would NOT recommend this to the worst of my enemies.

Sweet and small hotel with a good price-performance ratio! We had a great time in Lisboa! The position of the hotel is in a quite side street. Sometimes you hear the persons in the other rooms, but it didn't disturbed us. Breakfast was simple, after 3 days a little bit boring, but ok! The stuff was super nice :) We will definitly come back :)

Why I liked this place? It is close to everything in the city center. Friendly staff. Bad poins: very small toilet and showers, not good for overweight people, drug dealers on the corner that keep us for opening the windows at night. Only bread , cheese, coffee, not natural orange juice, cornflakes. British young tourist will keep you awake at night

I read somewhere on the web in an older comment that they charge for sheets and other things, which was certainly not true when I was there (July 2013). It's a good, clean place, they have a nice lounge/patio out in the back. Rooms are small and basic, as I'm sure you're already expecting at this price. Free internet worked well in my room, in the lounge also free use of desktop computers. Breakfast is a little frugal but also perfectly ok. I was there during a heat wave, so I dearly missed an air condition. They have fans in every room though. I saw two roaches in my room one night; when I told the staff in the morning, they seemed shocked and were pretty apologetic. I never saw the roaches again on any of the following days and nights, so perhaps they did something about it. Everyone was very friendly and helpful the entire time; the presence of the roaches was really the only thing that I could complain about, but in an old building, there's little that one can do to prevent this from happening from time to time, especially during a heat wave. To get to the hotel, you can take the metro to Baixa/Chiado, take the Chiado exit, then turn into Rua Garrett, across the Largo de Camoes, continue straight on along the Rua de Loreto and don't worry when it keeps changing its name, turn left when you arrive at the Rua Marechal Saldanha (there's a sign there directing you towards the Museu de Pharmcia), then right again at the next opportunity and voila, you're there. (I'm mentioning this because other commenters seem to suggest that it's incredibly hard to find, which it's not.)