HOTEL ANTRE CHAPULTEPEC GUADALAJARA

PERFECT LOCATION, INCREDIBLE VALUE, 

TOP-NOTCH STAFF FOR PROSPEROUS VISIT

Hotel Antre Chapultepec staff is outstanding about explaining the price, departure times, etc. of the tours it sells from the front desk.

I wish it would affiliate with a better tour provider than Jalisco Tour Mendez.

Both daylong tours that I took spent an endless amount of time stopping at horrible restaurants and tourists traps that likely pay the tour company a kickback for depositing hapless tourists at their doorstep.

The base price of the tours is 25 USD -- at that low price, you get a tour that only rates about 2.5 on a scale of one to 5.

 

 

HOTEL ANTRE CHAPULTEPEC GUADALAJARA

PERFECT LOCATION, INCREDIBLE VALUE, 

TOP-NOTCH STAFF FOR PROSPEROUS VISIT

Hotel Antre Chapultepec’s room temperature control is fixed.

You have to ask the front desk to send a person up to set it.

That means you only have a choice of air conditioning on or off -- you cannot adjust it to you comfort.

Please, treat guests like adults, and remove the governor on the temperature settings that can only be overridden with a code used by management.

The breakfast buffet was about 14 USD -- very high by Guadalajara standards.

I checked it out and while it looked clean, it really didn't appear to be worth the money.

I could not justify paying more than 20% of my daily room rate on a breakfast that was not cooked to order and had no luxury items on the buffet tables.

HOTEL ANTRE CHAPULTEPEC GUADALAJARA

PERFECT LOCATION, INCREDIBLE VALUE, 

TOP-NOTCH STAFF FOR PROSPEROUS VISIT

The Centro Historico is a 20 minute walk -- or a rideshare under USD 5 with tip – from Hotel Antre Chapultepec.

Tlaquepaque and Zapopan are about a half hour (45 minutes with traffic) 10 USD rideshare trip to visit those historic and vibrant neighborhoods.

The room had a large desk for working and room enough for a small fainting couch by the large balcony.

I would gladly stay again. 

And I wish every major city had a centrally-located, cost-effective Hotel Antre.

HOTEL ANTRE CHAPULTEPEC GUADALAJARA

PERFECT LOCATION, INCREDIBLE VALUE, 

TOP-NOTCH STAFF FOR PROSPEROUS VISIT

The fabulous working class Santa Tere neighborhood, with dozens of outstanding foodie spots, is a 12 minute walk north of the Hotel Antre Chapultepec.

GDL is a gastronomic mecca -- with amazingly fresh and fabulous seafood for not being a coastal city.

With a smooth check in and bilingual staff, Hotel Antre sets you up for all the cultural delights that GDL has to offer.

Jalisco state also is ground zero for outstanding coffee production.

Several of the best coffee purveyors in all of Mexico are within walking distance of the property.

LISBON NEST IN BAIRRO GRACA

LIVE LIKE A LOCAL AT A FULL-SIZE APARTMENT

AT AN OUTSTANDING VALUE

Lisbon Nest welcomes you with a bottle of very good regional wine and fresh fruit.

The two greatest lookout sites -- Miradouros -- are within walking distance of the Nest. One is the highest in Lisbon and the other has a little cafe for local wine and snacks.

Two of the greatest fresh catch plus local meat dish diner-sized mom and pop places are right down the hill from the Nest.

Camones has eclectic live music very close by – but it closes early and the music never disturbs your sleep.

 

LISBON NEST IN BAIRRO GRACA

LIVE LIKE A LOCAL AT A FULL-SIZE APARTMENT

AT AN OUTSTANDING VALUE

The Lisbon Nest hosts have written a fabulous guidebook -- in English -- waiting for you on the kitchen table.

It has a guide to dozens of locals’ restaurants within walking distance of Lisbon Nest.

It also suggests dozens of day trips -- Sintra, Mafra, Cascais -- and gives good details on how to get there.

It has a rundown of monuments and museums in Lisbon and tips on the easy to use and inexpensive transit system.

LISBON NEST IN BAIRRO GRACA

LIVE LIKE A LOCAL AT A FULL-SIZE APARTMENT

AT AN OUTSTANDING VALUE

For drying clothes, Lisbon Nest has a clothesline out the window -- that's what the natives use.

The living room has a flat screen TV and a couch that's plenty big for a person to sleep on.

There's also a small writing desk when you enter.

LISBON NEST IN BAIRRO GRACA

 LIVE LIKE A LOCAL AT A FULL-SIZE APARTMENT

AT AN OUTSTANDING VALUE

Lisbon Nest is in Graca.

Graca is central, but not in the noisy tourist areas. 

It's the best of both worlds -- fabulous restaurants, things to do, historic tram plus major bus routes -- but you can live like a Lisboan, not a tourist.

The apartment has a modern kitchen with a small fridge, stove top, oven, dishwasher, toaster, coffee maker, microwave and best of all -- a clothes washing machine that spins clothes dry.

 

 

LISBON NEST IN BAIRRO GRACA

LIVE LIKE A LOCAL AT A FULL-SIZE APARTMENT

AT AN OUTSTANDING VALUE

Lisbon Nest is an apartment.

Most everyone else in the building lives there year-round.

By European standards, it is big enough for 2 adults and one child.

The bed is super comfortable and the surrounding units and part of the neighborhood are super quiet and tranquil. 

LISBON NEST IN BAIRRO GRACA

LIVE LIKE A LOCAL AT A FULL-SIZE APARTMENT

AT AN OUTSTANDING VALUE

This was my the second time staying with the Nest property.

The same couple manage several vacation homes in the Graca area.

They have the same fabulous person clean the unit to spotlessness, meet you with the key, show you how appliances work, bring over extra sheets or coffee, etc. 

CARRIS HOTEL PORTO RIBEIRA

LUXURY IN THE PERFECT LOCATION FOR A FAIR PRICE

My visit included shopping at the legendary Livraria Llelo bookstore and dining at the restaurant row on Flores Street.

Footsteps from the Carris Hotel is the small, 5-star Taberna Dos Mercadores.

I lined up a half hour before opening two days in a row to eat phenomenal seafood rice, then seafood feijoada the next day.

Desserts and wines are also amazing.

I will be seeking out Carris branded properties for all my future travels.

https://www.booking.com/hotel/pt/carris-porto-ribeira.html?aid=1664544&label=review_am&sid=ef59c27ba8cd54f9be48a5eb5408d352&all_sr_blocks=28064204_88537171_1_1_0;checkin=2022-09-30;checkout=2022-10-01;dest_id=280642;dest_type=hotel;dist=0;group_adults=1;group_children=0;hapos=1;highlighted_blocks=28064204_88537171_1_1_0;hpos=1;matching_block_id=28064204_88537171_1_1_0;no_rooms=1;req_adults=1;req_children=0;room1=A;sb_price_type=total;sr_order=popularity;sr_pri_blocks=28064204_88537171_1_1_0__18000;srepoch=1664289895;srpvid=055b67b2ea540298;type=total;ucfs=1&#hotelTmpl

CARRIS HOTEL PORTO RIBEIRA

 LUXURY IN THE PERFECT LOCATION FOR A FAIR PRICE

The staff is super well trained.

I was treated like someone booking a presidential suite for a month, when I was just a one-night visitor rolling into town early one day and heading to Lisbon late the next.

Porto is such a fabulous city.

I should have stayed 3 nights.

Everything is within walking distance of the hotel.

I visited nearly a dozen classic churches, photographed azulejo adorned building facades and at pastel da nata.

https://www.booking.com/hotel/pt/carris-porto-ribeira.html?aid=1664544&label=review_am&sid=ef59c27ba8cd54f9be48a5eb5408d352&all_sr_blocks=28064204_88537171_1_1_0;checkin=2022-09-30;checkout=2022-10-01;dest_id=280642;dest_type=hotel;dist=0;group_adults=1;group_children=0;hapos=1;highlighted_blocks=28064204_88537171_1_1_0;hpos=1;matching_block_id=28064204_88537171_1_1_0;no_rooms=1;req_adults=1;req_children=0;room1=A;sb_price_type=total;sr_order=popularity;sr_pri_blocks=28064204_88537171_1_1_0__18000;srepoch=1664289895;srpvid=055b67b2ea540298;type=total;ucfs=1&#hotelTmpl

CARRIS HOTEL PORTO RIBEIRA

LUXURY IN THE PERFECT LOCATION FOR A FAIR PRICE

The desk staff suggested a fabulous locals restaurant, so I could eat fresh seafood while avoiding the mediocre tourist spots that dominate the popular neighborhood.

There was a gourmet grocery very close by, so I could have a bottle of port for the room and eat pastries on my balcony.

The room was worth three times what I paid -- at least.

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CARRIS HOTEL PORTO RIBEIRA

LUXURY IN THE PERFECT LOCATION FOR A FAIR PRICE

The suite had a huge comfortable bed, lavish bath plus a separate sitting room.

I could enjoy city and water views from the small balconies.

Thick glass closed around them to make a double layer of soundproofing.

The hotel itself is in a series of preserved historic buildings, adapted inside with a super modern and comfortable lobby, bar, front desk staff.

My light luggage was stored for late afternoon departure after noon check out.

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CARRIS HOTEL PORTO RIBEIRA

LUXURY IN THE PERFECT LOCATION FOR A FAIR PRICE

I asked for an early check-in, quiet room and small upgrade if available.

In return for barely more than 100 euros in high season, I was upgraded to a suite with 7 balconies.

I also got benefitted from very early check in, for a very tranquil and quiet room (despite a prime location with a fair amount of noise at street level)

The location is perfect -- crawling distance of Porto's Rio Douro riverfront and in the heart of the historic Ribeira district.

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THE BACKYARD NEST GRACA, LISBON, PORTUGAL

THE PERFECT HOLIDAY APARTMENT IN THE PERFECT LOCATION

In the evenings, I hustled along after dinner to catch the last moments of the golden hour, to take sunset photos from Miradouro da Graca/Sophia de Mello Breyner Andresen -- enhanced by a public patio where snacks and drinks are served from a kiosk.     

In the evening, my neighbor’s sweet cat would come by to be petted and the neighborhood beagle would beg for snacks and affection.

And each night, I slept in a roughly 600 square foot space. A unit large enough to live in year-round.

https://www.booking.com/hotel/pt/serra-vidal-apartment.html?auth_success=1

THE BACKYARD NEST GRACA, LISBON, PORTUGAL

THE PERFECT HOLIDAY APARTMENT IN THE PERFECT LOCATION

About half the shopkeepers and small restaurant owners spoke English – the others put up with my pathetic Portuguese, which sounds a lot like a so-so Spanish speaker grasping for cognates.

In the morning, sunshine bathed the neighborhood and I rushed from Backyard Nest past the locals to take photos of all of Lisbon stretched out below below Miradouro da Senhora do Monte – the highest point in all of Lisboa.

https://www.booking.com/hotel/pt/serra-vidal-apartment.html?auth_success=1 

THE BACKYARD NEST GRACA, LISBON, PORTUGAL

THE PERFECT HOLIDAY APARTMENT IN THE PERFECT LOCATION

Graca has places to sit outside and have a drink – be it strong coffee or smooth wine.

I had some of the best seafood, at a great price, in all my travels – at places a quarter mile walk from my holiday apartment.

There are clothing shops – used and new – convenience stores, quirky stores – virtually all mom and pop.

It soothes the soul to patronize authentic shops.

https://www.booking.com/hotel/pt/serra-vidal-apartment.html?auth_success=1 

THE BACKYARD NEST GRACA, LISBON, PORTUGAL

THE PERFECT HOLIDAY APARTMENT IN THE PERFECT LOCATION

Graca is so much more authentic than the heavily-touristed zones.

Footsteps from the Backyard Nest, there were nearly a half dozen family-owned bakeries – with sweet and savory items.

There were small, quirky grocery stores and fruit stands, as well as a Pingo Doce – the major supermarket – behind the façade of a beautiful old movie theater and stocked with every item you could ever want.

https://www.booking.com/hotel/pt/serra-vidal-apartment.html?auth_success=1 

THE BACKYARD NEST GRACA, LISBON, PORTUGAL

THE PERFECT HOLIDAY APARTMENT IN THE PERFECT LOCATION

I spent far more time in Graca than I would have thought before arriving.

It really only has a few true tourist attractions – a pair of unmatched lookout points – a couple historic churches and by extension (though shared with Alfama) the famed Mercado de Santa Clara flea market and the national pantheon.

But Graca kept calling my name.

https://www.booking.com/hotel/pt/serra-vidal-apartment.html?auth_success=1