Turim Saldanha — Lisbon Portugal Hotel Review

Table of Contents

Turim Saldanha Review

When we go to Lisbon for a conference we try to stay in a different hotel each time, where possible.

This allows us the opportunity to explore different neighborhoods in Lisbon, experience a variety of restaurants, and ultimately enables us to share more information with you to help you plan your trip to Lisbon.

For this weekend in Lisbon we stayed in the Saldanha (Sal-don-yah) neighborhood at the Turim Saldanha Hotel.

Turim Saldanha Hotel

We grabbed an Uber from the Sete Rios Bus Station to Turim Saldanha Hotel.
The main entrance is to the left of the man standing in the photo below, sort of tucked in from the street.

Outside Turim Saldanha — Lisbon Hotel Review — Turim Saldanha Hotel in Lisbon Portugal

Upon entering the hotel lobby you’ll see some seating and the bar area. To the right you can see the elevators and just out of view is the reception desk. Checking in was smooth.

Lobby of Turim Saldanha — Lisbon Hotel Review — Lobby of Turim Saldanha Hotel

3 Things to Know About Checking in to Hotels in Lisbon

Language

Throughout Lisbon if you are staying in a traditional Hotel there is almost certainly going to be someone at the front desk who can speak English. Nevertheless, we do like to use these opportunities to practice our Portuguese and if we don’t understand then staff is gracious enough to switch to English.

Identification

It is common for all guests to be asked for their IDs whether that be a local residence card or a passport from your country. This is completely normal and part of complying with the law.

City Tax

A city tax of 2 euros per person per night may be due upon check in. This is capped out at 14 euros per person. So if you stay at one hotel for longer than 7 nights at 2 euros per night, you will not have any further city tax charges.

Lisbon City Tax Increase – An increase to the Lisbon tourist tax has taken effect beginning September 1, 2024. The tax went from 2 euros per person per night to 4 euros – doubling. source

Standard Room at Turim Saldanha

Here is a view of the standard room from the entry way, just beyond the bathroom door.

It’s very common in Europe to have two smaller beds next to each other instead of one Queen or King like Americans may be used to.

Two Beds at Turim Saldanha — Lisbon Hotel Review — Room for 2 at Turim Saldanha Portugal Hotel

To the right of the bed a sliding full length mirror (see photo above) opened to the closet which housed a small safe, and a few hangers (see photo below). A phone was available at the side of the bed.

Closet in Standard room at Turim Saldanha — Lisbon Hotel Review — Closet Space Turim Saldanha Hotel

Have a look at the room from the head of the bed. A TV is mounted to the wall and below it is a floating shelf perfect for your keys, sunglasses, and whatever bits and bobs are in your pockets.

To the right is a desk area with mini fridge and hot beverage set up.

For some reason the garbage can is right beneath the chair. It’s always good to have a little garbage can in your hotel room outside of the bathroom.

Space to Work and Eat at Turim Saldanha

Some hotels we have stayed at recently do not have space to really eat a meal or work on your computer or even charge your devices. While not a ton of space, you do definitely have some options in this room between this desk and the small round table in the corner of the room.

Work Space at Turim Saldanha — Lisbon Hotel Review — Turim Saldanha Work Space

Free Beverages at Turim Saldanha

Taking a look at the beverage set up above the desk, you can see there is a glass bottle labeled “Courtesy Water”. It was great to have this free water in the hotel room! The housekeeping staff will replace it.

As you can see, the outlets are European style. So you will need to bring an adapter.

Shop European Plug Adapters — Today’s Best Price on Amazon 🔥

Beverages at Turim Saldanha — Lisbon Hotel Review — In-room Complimentary Beverages Turim Saldanha

The coffee situation, on the other hand was rather sad. The coffee was instant, to be used with the electric kettle, and upon arrival there was one package of black tea, one package of caffeinated coffee and one of decaf. I found it really strange that there wouldn’t be two of each given that there were two guests booked into this room.

Tea and Instant Coffee at Turim Saldanha — Lisbon Hotel Review — 1 each – instant coffee, decaf, black tea

Each day of our stay I had to ask the front desk for more coffee packets. The staff down there was great and it was no trouble at all, but it would certainly be better for the guests if they just put a couple more in the room.

And let’s be clear – no one is trying to take this coffee as a “freebie”. It’s not good. Like… at all. You only drink it out of pure necessity to fuel you until you can get a proper cafezinho. ❤

That’s coming from a girlie who is not a fan of an instant coffee, though. Nothing personal. 🙂

Mini Fridge Prices in Lisbon

Taking a peek into the mini fridge we found water, juice, coca-cola, sagres beer, a Toblerone Swiss candy bar, mixed nuts, some liquor and a tiny can of Pringles.

Mini Fridge at Turim Saldanha — Lisbon Hotel Review — Mini Fridge Turim Saldanha Hotel

Curious how much mini fridge items cost in Lisbon?

Minibar Prices at Turim Saldanha — Lisbon Hotel Review — Mini Fridge Price List in Portugal, stains not ours 🤭

This grubby little price list was in the room and no, we were not the ones who soiled it. lol. Kind of gross, but still informative. I never use stuff out of a mini fridge, and here’s a great example why. One can of Coke 4.50 euro? that’s almost $5. come on… I always bring my own snackies and this weekend was no exception.

Would you like to see the view from our room?

View from Turim Saldanha — Lisbon Hotel Review — View from Hotel Room Turim Saldanha

Turim Saldanha Restaurant Menu & Prices

At the small round table near the window we found a menu for the room service from the restaurant in the hotel.

Click any menu photo to enlarge 🙂

Restaurant Menu 1 Turim Saldanha — Lisbon Hotel Review

Restaurant Menu 2 Turim Saldanha — Lisbon Hotel Review

Bathroom — Turim Saldanha Standard Room

Now let’s check out the bathroom.

Bathroom at Turim Saldanha — Lisbon Hotel Review — Turim Saldanha Bathroom Sink Area

You’ve got your standard toiletries along with wall-mounted tissues, hair dryer, and mirror.

Shower and Toilet at Turim Saldanha — Lisbon Hotel Review — Turim Saldanha Bathroom Toilet Area

Shower with bathtub with a glass door that doesn’t slide enough to keep water from splashing out…

Shower and Tub at Turim Saldanha — Lisbon Hotel Review — Turim Saldanha Bathroom Shower Area

Overall a nice bathroom! Until I washed my hands and realized there was a design flaw – where do you put the bar of hand soap when you’re done?!

The sink ledge is curved, so you can’t set it on the sink.
The toiletry stand has openings cut out to fit each toiletry in packaging. No where to set the soap.

Until I realized… that roll of toilet paper in the corner. It’s not just the back up… it doubles as a soap rest! 8)

Sink Area at Turim Saldanha — Lisbon Hotel Review — Turim Saldanha Bathroom Design Missing One Thing…

Let’s get a close up of this design genius… It’s like a little crown for the TP! 🙂

Toilet Paper Soap Holder at Turim Saldanha — Lisbon Hotel Review — Makeshift Soap Holder :p

Oh Wait … Our Door Lock Doesn’t Work!

It’s about this time when we came to the realization that our door did not lock properly. You know how when you turn a deadbolt lock the deadbolt comes out of the door? Well in this case, the part you turn just turned 360 degrees and the deadbolt didn’t ever emerge.

After a quick ring to the front desk, someone from housekeeping came by. The dear lady did not speak any English at all. While front desk staff will often speak English, as noted above, other staff may not as you can see here. Another great opportunity to practice Portuguese presents itself!

We explained and demonstrated the issue and while she didn’t seem too fussed about it, she did get on the walkie talkie to her colleague. Her colleague laughed and said in Portuguese “Oh room # _____. It’s just like that.” And then the lady parroted that back to us as though it was a solution. So we asked if we could just switch rooms. She had to walkie talkie her colleague again, but conveniently turned the volume down this time. And a few minutes later someone from reception came up to meet us with a new room key and escort us to the new room – next door. The lock functioned normally there. 🙂 He said he would put a maintenance request in for the other room.

So after all, these pictures are of the room we did not stay in. The room next door was almost identical though, don’t worry. 🙂

Overall Review of Turim Saldanha

Turim Saldanha Hotel is a nice place to stay in a great area of Lisbon.

Standard Room 1 at Turim Saldanha — Lisbon Hotel Review

Standard Room 2 at Turim Saldanha — Lisbon Hotel Review

The rooms were nice, simple and clean with modern touches and had everything you would need.

You’re in close walking distance to a lot of great restaurants and you’re a quick uber away from anything you’d want to see.

Lobby View at Turim Saldanha — Lisbon Hotel Review — Lobby of Turim Saldanha Hotel

This hotel does not offer free breakfast and we did not try their paid offering.

The staff was very nice and I would not hesitate to stay here again. ✨