Residencia Mar dos Acores

The four-story Residência Mar Dos Açores is the pride and joy of owner Honoria, who recently turned the 100-year-old abandoned building into a tidy budget inn in residential Estefania.

The hotel offers 32 simple rooms, nearly all with air conditioning, natural light and pretty original green tiling. Rooms are simply furnished with old prints, basic beds and desks. Some have a TV, although none have telephones.

If you can handle a hike up the stairs, we'd suggest asking for a room on a higher floor, and preferred those in the front looking out to the quiet street, as they're roomier and benefit from the most light. (Rooms looking to the back or side face another building.) Some rooms have private baths, while cheaper rooms share facilities. The cheapest singles, on the ground floor, don't have the same charm.

The Açores is situated outside the action—at least a 10-minute walk east from the Marquês de Pombal Metro station..

Wi-Fi is offered for free in a small lounge on the ground floor. The pension has no elevator. Continental breakfast included in the room rate.