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Martinhal Chiado Luxury Apartments
In the heart of Lisbon’s Chiado district is Martinhal Chiado. A family friendly hotel with luxury apartments of varying sizes, this is the perfect place to stay whilst visiting central Lisbon. With excellent staff, spacious rooms, your own kitchen and even complimentary breakfast delivered to your room.
If you need some child-free time there is also the kids club with daily activities. They can also offer kids dinner in the evening and a mini disco afterward!
Where is Martinhal Chiado Located?
Martinhal Chiado is in the Chiado district, just down the street from Luis de Camoes Square (where you can catch the famous 28 tram). Or a 2 minute walk up the street from the famous pink street with its floating umbrella canopy.
We found it perfect for catching the train to Cascais as it’s only a 5 minute walk from the station. Or trams to Belem from beside the station. Going toward the castle you can easily catch a tram from the square 5 minutes walk uphill. Do buy a tram/metro card or Lisboa card before using the trams, otherwise they can be costly.
How To Get To Martinhal Chiado
Getting to Martinhal Chiado is easy. It’s a 20 minute drive from the airport or the train station to and from Cascais is a 5 minute walk away. If arriving by train from North of South Portugal you will need to use the metro or take a taxi into central Lisbon.
Luxury Apartments At Martinhal Chiado
Martinhal Chiado has a range of luxury apartments of different sizes. From studio apartments with everything in the one room, to 2 bedroom luxury apartments.
We stayed in a 1-bedroom luxury apartment, which was perfect for the 3 of us. It can fit up to 4 people, with a double bed and bunk beds.
1 Bedroom Superior Deluxe Apartment
In the Chiado 1 bedroom superior deluxe apartment you enter into a spacious hallway, with space for hanging items and basket for footwear. There is also a cupboard with plenty of shelves and hanging space, plus a safe for valuables.
From the hallway you can enter the spacious kitchen, dining and living area. It’s a good size with a great views along the street and to the Tagus River beyond (we were on the 5th floor). The kitchen has everything you need, including a washing machine and dryer, plus fridge, dishwasher, oven, hob and microwave. We spent a good amount of time chilling in the living area playing card games and reading after a busy day exploring.
There is a small bathroom with shower, toilet and bidet. It did feel a little tight for space, mainly as everything else in the apartment is rather spacious.
The final doorway off the hall is for the bedrooms, entering a kids room with bunk beds, then through another doorway into the double bedroom, with a HUGE bed. It’s the perfect size for a family of 4!
Martinhal Chiado Facilities
The feel of Martinhal Chiado is very friendly, where you feel like a member of the family straight away. As soon as we had visited the kids playroom the staff would say Hi to us each time we passed by. Which is lovely!
Bar 1855
Downstairs on street level is Bar 1855, this is where you can have breakfast each morning. They also serve lunch and dinner, as well as being a bar. It’s a great place for parents to wind down in the evening whilst the kids are at the evening mini disco in the kids playroom along the hall.
Buffet Breakfast
The buffet breakfast has a variety of items, from pastries and pancakes to fruit, cheese and meat platters. There are also hot food items available, including omelette and eggs cooked fresh. I’m afraid that we’re not a good test of the hot food service, as we prefer pastries and fruit to eggs! But we were always offered it, along with fresh coffee or tea too.
If you would prefer to eat breakfast in your room then you can simply fill in the online breakfast form. It’s delivered for free at the time of your choosing. Although we chose not to do this, as the kids favourite items from the buffet weren’t on the room service list (pancakes and pain au chocolat!).
Kids Playroom
There’s a lovely kids playroom area where children can enjoy playing with Lego, board games and toys. There’s also a computer for older children too. Most of the items in the playroom are aimed at younger children. However, my 11 year old decided to go to a slime making activity one afternoon and enjoyed himself making slime and then playing the PlayStation with another child afterward.
The staff in the playroom are very friendly and great with the kids. Some parents prefer to leave the kids for a few hours whilst they explore the city. Others tend to leave the kids int he evening to go out for dinner or give them a chance to play with other children for a bit. Either way, the staff are very accommodating and excellent with the children.
Concierge Service
If you have any problems or need extra baby equipment you can simply ask the concierge service via WhatsApp or the link sent to you. We arrived in the morning and although our room wasn’t ready, the reception staff made sure to get my number. They messaged me on WhatsApp as soon as it was ready and had our luggage waiting in the room.
Places To Visit Nearby in Lisbon
Ride The Trams!
It’s just a 5 minute walk to Luis de Camoes Square where several quaint old fashioned trams stop. Tram 28 is the popular one that all the tourists want to catch. It also tends to be quieter at this stop, you’re much more likely to get a seat.
The more modern trams down towards the river are great for taking to Belém and visiting the attractions around that area. Plus it’s also fun to try a different type of tram from the smaller ones that hustle around the steep central Lisbon streets.
You can also visit one of the elevators or funiculars in the town too. The funiculars are free to use and are good to get up the steeper hills without breaking a sweat.
Make sure you get a card for the trams before you use them. Paying for tram journeys individually can be very costly (around £3.50 a journey). However, you can buy a metro and Carris (trams and buses) card from various locations around the city (we bought ours down in the metro at the station). They come in different lengths of time. We bought a 24 hour ticket, giving us a days worth of trams for around £7 per adult. You can also get free transport on Carris, metro and trains, along with free entry to certain attractions with the Lisboa Card (available at the tourist information).
Visit The Castle
Castelo de Sao Jorge stands proud over the city and well worth a visit for all the family. The castle that now stands here is actually a reconstruction, much of the original palace and castle that stood here was destroyed in the 1755 earthquake. We did manage to spend most of the day exploring the site.
The best tips for visiting the castle are to make sure you book yourself on a guided tour when you go to the reception. It’s free and well worth it, our guide told us about some recent excavations of Moorish homes and also took us on a step-by-step visit to invading the castle, showing us how our choices wouldn’t work and that the castle was well laid out for defence. The kids especially loved this part! I would also advise waiting in the queue for the Camera Obscura, it’s interesting and the kids loved learning about how it worked.
You’ll also find a cafe, with excellent views and a little ice cream van. Visit when the castle opens to find quiet spaces all to yourself.
Quake Museum
The Quake museum is reached by the number 15 tram from near the station. It’s a great introduction to the severe 1755 earthquake and tsunami that destroyed much of Lisbon. Many of the older buildings have been reconstructed since then. Plus the Lisbon street layout was changed into a grid pattern that is easy to navigate today.
The earlier rooms are very interesting and tell you about the science of earthquakes and stories of the people who lived in Lisbon.
There are some gory scenes and the wooden seats that shake when you sit in the earthquake experience room can be uncomfortable. I highly recommend that anyone with back problems sits or stands at the back of the room, as the shaking of the chairs is rough! However, the museum is still worth visiting, lots of interesting information of life at the time and the science behind it.
Go To The Beach
There are lots of beaches near Lisbon, many right beside train stations. We took the train out to Santo Amaro (we used the Lisboa card for the train ticket). It’s a 5 minute walk from the station down to the beach.
Praia Santo Amaro is a great beach for families as it has toilet and showers at the beach, plus a section of sea with lifeguards. So you feel a little safer knowing someone else is also watching the kids!
And if the kids are starving after playing at the beach, there’s also a McDonald’s nearby too!
Eat Pastel de Nata
These delicious Portuguese delicacies are an egg custard tart and are delicious! You can buy them at various places around the city. Or ask the hotel concierge if they know where the best place is!
Why We LOVED Our Stay At Martinhal Chiado!
We certainly enjoyed our stay at Martinhal Chiado and would recommend it to anyone wanting to stay in the city centre. The staff are exceptional, very friendly and helpful. They are there for anything you need, whether it’s suggestions of places to visit, to booking you a table at a restaurant.
The kids club is fantastic for children, with great playful staff and lots of kids activities and toys to explore. It makes it a lot easier for adults to enjoy some of the museums kids may find ‘boring’, knowing that the children are having much more fun playing at the hotel.
And finally, the space available to relax on the cosy sofas in the living area was perfect for family chill time. Sitting reading and playing board games, it was a good place to rest weary feet!
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