Checked out today after a 3 night stay at the Ivens, here's my informal review.

Booked the Ivens Balcony room using 3 50k FNA certs earned from last fall's AMEX Biz Bonvoy offer, and the annual FNA from AMEX Bonvoy Brilliant. Also used 3 SNAs in hopes of getting an upgrade but the hotel was fully booked during my stay. Oh well.

The hotel has this jungle safari theme with a luxurious twist to it. The bell boys and the room service staff were all in what I can best describe as a safari outfit, like the professor in Disney's Tarzan movie wore. Very cute, and I very much appreciated the overall.

As a Platinum Elite I was offered complimentary breakfast for two, a choice between $10 F&B credit vs 1000 points, as well as complimentary mini bar service for EVERYTHING there BUT the vodka and champagne. Yes, beer was included. And they also replenished the mini bar every service and upon request.

The breakfast essentially was free everything as far as I was aware. They handed you a menu for a la carte, along with a buffet selection in the back for small items such as yogurt, fruits, cereal, bread/pastries, ham, cheese. The a la carte consisted of the usuals such as eggs and sides, eggs benedict + whatever toppings, smoked salmon + cream + bilini, french toast, pancakes, etc, along with various beverages and alcoholic beverages such as mimosas and champagne (note that these had price tag attached but not sure if they're charged!). I chose the $10 F&B to use on my final day on mimosas (It was around 8-10 euros) but I was not charged for this at all! If I knew this I would've ordered mimosas every morning! My loss!

The room itself was very small, just a king bed, tiny chairs, tiny desk, and a small balcony. Washroom was spacious though, and the showers were nice with Acqua di Parma products. My unit's shower did splash water through the small crack of the glass door so watch out for that. As mentioned the mini bar was mostly complimentary so we took full advantage of that. The bedding and what not were good, nothing to complain about, and overall the room had a nice luxurious touch to it. It reminded me a lot of The Edition Barcelona that I stayed at a month ago.

I will give a special mention to the soft service here. Every evening I came back to turn down service with a little gift left in the room every day. First day it was a pair of raspberry chocolate truffles that was placed under a golden dish with a dung beetle rolling a poop... and the truffle coincidentally looked a lot like the poop on the cover. The next day another chocolate + berry tart dessert, and for final night some lavender scented accessories that are supposed to help you relax more, and to keep your luggage smelling fresh. Really appreciated these small touches to elevate our overall experience.

All in all, for a points booking, I fully recommend this hotel. I booked this for 3 nights for a 4 night trip and I wished I transferred points over to book a fourth final night here too (Currently at the Sheraton typing this out but I got an executive suite here for a cheap cash booking so can't complain). The location of the Ivens is absolutely perfect for touring the main tourist attraction areas but just tucked away from the noise and bustle of city center, and the staff were a pleasure to interact with. My one and only complaint being the tiny rooms it comes with at the base level but having stayed at The Edition Barcelona, and Almanac Barcelona recently, this seems par for course for European lux hotels.

If you're looking to burn your points at Lisbon, look no further than The Ivens.