Shiado Hostel

While studying in my Erasmus Mundus program at the University of Aveiro, I decided to take a few days and spend them in Lisbon. Unfortunately, I was unable to attend the ESN organized trip to Lisbon, so I organized a trip for myself. I most certainly wasn't not going to see the capital city of Portugal during my stay. I also was unable to recruit any of my friends to come with me, so I was a lone traveler, which isn't always a bad thing.

Before I left for Lisbon, I booked three nights at the Shiado Hostel in the female dorm room. It was a perfect choice for me! I visited Lisbon in the off season, so there were very few people staying in the dorm. For two nights, there was only one other lone female traveler and the third night I was alone in the room, which was really weird. She was a very nice girl. We ate dinner together and did some walking around together - there are some perks of traveling alone. You get to meet new people!

The room was quite large and very clean. Lockers were available for your personal belongings. Even though I traveled in the off-season, the temperatures were unusually warm for the month of November, but the hostel stayed very cool and pleasant.

The bathrooms were also very clean. However, the water was more luke-warm than hot and the showers had a push button (this doesn't really both me, but I know some people don't like this system).

Breakfast was included in the price of the bed and had quite a bit of variety. I was very happy with the breakfast selection. There was a nice couch area to lounge and watch movies and chat with other travelers (though I never saw anyone else there during my stay). They also had computers available where you could get online and Skype - headsets for the Skype calls were also available. 

The staff were very friendly and offered great suggestions on local places to eat.

The location of the hostel was perfect for my purposes. You could easily walk to all the main tourist attractions or you could take the metro. I did both depending on how tired I was. Shopping was plentiful - all the big names were right down the road from this hostel. There were also an abundance of bars and restaurants.

The easiest way to get to the hostel from the train station is via the metro, and you can read more about the directions on their website.

Another perk - they give a discount to Erasmus students, so be sure to bring your ESN card with you!