Pensao Globo

The 15-room Pensão Globo offers modest rooms on a quiet side street in northern Bairro Alto. With rates that stay pretty low and a scene-y location, it's a sensible choice for younger travelers who don't want to check in to a hostel.

The Globo's rooms are clean and small, and furnished with simple wooden beds and desks, cute little lamps and a rather random selection of framed prints. Rooms are equipped with a TV, but that's about it. Tiled bathrooms have teeny tiny sinks and tight shower stalls, but fixtures are up-to-date. (We could do without the blue linoleum covering some room floors, but my, those rates are cheap!)

Five rooms face the street and the rest face the back. Rooms on the top floor have slanted ceilings and look out onto pretty rooftops. But the sun streaming in from the skylight-window could bake you during the hotter months.

Water, soda, milk and coffee are for sale in the lobby.