I stayed at the HI Express for a single night, coming back from a research trip to Coimbra and flying out of LIS the next day. Lisbon hotels get expensive, so even a theoretically low-end brand like the Holiday Inn Express was charging 150EUR for a Wednesday night in late May. As a budget traveller this is much more than I would usually be interested in paying, but I was being reimbursed for this part of the trip so decided to go crazy...

Location

The hotel is located in a rather attractive pistachio-coloured building which appears to be a former apartment block. It has a really handy position just off Avenue de Liberdade, a short haul uphill from the Marquês de Pombal metro station. It's also close to the Aerobus route from the airport, but the metro is cheap and easy so I wouldn't bother with the bus unless you have multiple suitcases. I like the location because it's an easy 10 minute walk down to the tourist centre of Baixa, but it's not actually in Baixa, so you don't have a bunch of dudes pushing drugs at you every time you walk down the street. ("Weed hashish? My friend! Cocaine?" - Maybe this is a young person problem, they didn't seem to target the middle-aged German couples much...) There's also a Minipreço supermarket just up the hill for supplies, though no fridge in the room to store things.

Check In

There was no one in the lobby other than staff when I arrived, so check-in was pretty fast. My princely platinum status, won through many nights on the road loyally staying at IHG properties a $49 credit card, got me a corner room on the 5th floor plus two other things. First, the welcome amenity was a choice between a free drink at the bar and 300 bonus points. Three hundred IHG points are worth maybe two bucks, so I took the drink. Second, my flight the next day was departing after midnight, so I tried to get a late checkout. The hotel was full so they offered 1pm - only a slight advance on the regular checkout time of 12, but better than nothing! Overall, not a bad start.

Room

The corner room wasn't any bigger than others, but had a curved shape that made it slightly more interesting than every other generic corporate hotel room. It was bright, modern, pretty spacious, with a nice big area underneath the window to wander around or lay out luggage. There was a double bed, a large armchair, and a desk with lamp, outlet and ethernet port. The mattress was much too soft for my taste, but I usually prefer beds to be only barely softer than a concrete slab, so take that opinion under advisement.

It's not visible in this photo but there was quite a nice view of the neighborhood out the window, with even a slice of the river visible further away. The desk:

The bathroom was bathed in a strange blue light due to a coloured bulb above the door, not sure what that was about. Once I turned it off, the space transformed from a mid-2000s nightclub into a pleasant hotel bathroom. It was was sparkling clean and very spacious for Europe, and the shower was powerful and easy to operate.

Amenities

The Holiday Inn Express brand bespeaks glamour and cool sophistication, so as I checked in I was ready to be pampered. I wasn't disappointed. The ice machine in the elevator lobby was shiny and luxe. When I felt like working up a sweat, the open areas of carpet let me do a wide range of crunches, push-ups, and leg lifts. Later, the in-room concierge pamphlet recommended a chic local eatery called "Pizza Hut", which brought my order directly to my door.

I kid, I kid... it's a limited service hotel so not really any amenities to speak of. But the wifi was somewhat OK and the TV had a couple of English-language channels, so I just about survived the night. There's also a "business corner" in the lobby which consists of two PCs and a printer.

There's a 24-hour bar in the lobby too, which is really just an extension of the reception desk where the person on duty can pour you a drink if you want. There are some tables and chairs, plus TVs showing people speaking rapidly in Portuguese about soccer.

This was where I got my free drink. It's a house wine or beer for golds and platinums; one can only dream of the giddy heights of Spire status, which also allows spirits (AND mixer) from the unfortunately generic selection behind the bar. This lowly platinum contented himself with a Super Bock. At 10pm on a Wednesday there were a handful of guests coming in and out for a drink. All in all, I won't be bringing all my cool friends to this hot new bar anytime soon, but it wasn't a bad place to sneak a quick, free beer...

Breakfast is free for all guests and served in the basement lower floor from 7 to 10.30 each morning. It was crowded so I didn't take any photos, but it was a reasonable spread, with toast, cereal, yoghurt, fruit, deli meats, and pastries (including pasteis de nata though they ran out pretty fast).

Overall

Overall this was a good stay. The room was spacious and comfortable, and the hotel makes a good base for the city centre. I do think it's overpriced for a limited service hotel, but that seems to be de rigueur in Lisbon. I would stay here again, but probably only if someone else paid for it...