Review: Radisson Blu Hotel, Lisbon

Where is it?

The Radisson Blu Hotel Lisbon is located in the northern parts of central Lisbon. It is quite close to Lisbon airport, located just by the threshold of the southern runway making it a good choice for a late arrival or an early departure. In the morning there is even a shuttle bus to the airport leaving 3-4 times, at other times you will need to take a taxi to go between the airport and the hotel, but again, it is not far.

The hotel is located in the Campo Grande district of Lisbon, which is somewhat far from the main tourist areas in Baixa and Chiado, which are about 6 km away.

There is a metro station close to the hotel though, the Campo Grande station, located just across the street around five minutes walk from the hotel. It is served by both the yellow and the green metro lines so getting to downtown Lisbon is still rather easy and straight-forward with no need to change train to get to Baixa-Chiado.

The arrival experience

I arrived at the hotel in the early afternoon, this time taking the metro to get to the hotel from the airport rather than a taxi. The metro station at Campo Grande is not far from the hotel and you will see the hotel building almost immediately when exiting the station.

The small hotel lobby is very old-fashioned with a long old-style reception desk rather than smaller counters which most modern Radisson Blu hotels have nowadays. Also they still have the old currency exchange board on the wall at the reception, listing currencies such as French Francs and German Marks. Although these currencies obviously have no conversion rates shown (the board is also used for other currencies) it is quite remarkable that it has not yet been replaced. The Euro was introduced in 1999, almost 20 years ago.

Although I arrived at the hotel before the official check-in time there was no problem getting access to my room immediately. I was also informed about the breakfast hours and that they had upgraded me thanks to my Radisson Rewards gold card.

The room

The hotel has 221 rooms divided into Standard rooms, Superior rooms, Business Class rooms and Suites.

I had booked a Standard room but was upgraded to a Business Class room. The main difference is that the business class rooms are more spacious, usually measuring around 30 sqm compared to standard rooms which are around 22 sqm in size. The business class rooms also come with slippers and a bathrobe.

The room itself was very old-fashioned in terms of design, these furniture have probably been in use for quite some time.

The room had a king-sized bed, a table with two armchairs, a work desk and a TV. There was also a mini bar and a safe.

The bathroom was quite modern, in fact far more modern and in better condition than the room itself, and it had a bathtub (rather than a shower) as well as the standard Radisson Blu toiletries from ThisWorks.

Shortly after I had entered my room a woman from housekeeping knocked on my door and delivered a tray with some fresh fruits, which she placed on the table. There was also a welcome letter on the tray to me as a gold card holder with Radisson.

Food and drinks

The hotel has a restaurant, Restaurant Bordalo Pinheiro, and a bar, Malhoa Cocktail Bar, both located on the ground floor next to the lobby.

Other facilities

There is a small gift shop on the ground floor selling newspapers, magazines and souvenirs. There is a gym open 24 hours, an indoor parking and 12 meeting rooms.

Service

The service at the front desk was friendly but perhaps a bit slow. Otherwise there was nothing to complain about and I was happy to be able to access my room before the official check-in time as it really made my day much easier.

Breakfast

The breakfast was served in the Bordalo Pinheiro restaurant on the ground floor and offered the standard selection of hot and cold breakfast items.

Final impression

The hotel is quite old and especially the public areas are in need of a facelift when you find a currency board at the reception showing currencies which were replaced by the Euro in 1999. The location is also somewhat remote from the main tourist areas but on the other hand it is very convenient for the airport. However it should be noted that although there are some much more contemporary hotels in Lisbon, with a better location, the rates at the Radisson Blu typically reflect this. You can usually get some pretty good deals at the hotel, a lot cheaper than some other hotels in the city, and there is really nothing wrong about the hotel, it is mostly showing its age.