Casas da Baixa - Lighthouse Apartments

Large rooms, very clean, the actual building communal areas like the stairs and entrance hall are immaculate. Very clean. The apartment we have is 1b at the back of the building. The property does not profess to have AC. But it does say in its ad thar it has an AC unit, which is actually a 1 metre high 20cm wide tower fan. It has a small water tank at the bottom, which the warm air filters through. The only way to achieve actual cold air (AC) is to fill it with ice every few hours. So that's what I'm currently doing. Pouring water into cups, placing them in the freezer and then decanting the huge lumps of ice into the small water tank at the bottom of the unit. I know I'm the first person to bother because the existing water inside the tank was yellow and stagnant. If we open the back windows for air flow, it's too hot outside, because there are AC vents from other buildings that are pumping out hot air. Plus, there is a building site and so it's incredibly loud. It is currently September, so the temperature inside the apartment with the pseudo AC unit is almost bearable. How anybody could cope inside this apartment in June, July or August is a mystery to me. There is no way it's liveable. Frustratingly, the room does have AC infrastructure with large AC vents on the top of each wall in each room, and there is an AC panel on the wall. But it doesn't work. Either the company that owns this property doesn't want to pay the money to maintain it, or pay the electricity bills for them being used. The outcome is an apartment that is unbearable. The upside is that the location is superb. It's arguably the best place to be in central Lisbon. With regards comfort, the bed is ok'ish, pretty hard mattress but I like that. Pillows are thin and lumpy, so pretty cheap. Shower is big and powerful, there is a small ironing board and excellent iron, a large washing machine and a large dishwasher. The TV is a modern SMART TV that connects to my phone easily with the Samsung SmartThings app. All in all the apartment is great but I would never stay again because of the AC issue. There is also currently some extremely loud construction work taking place (as of September 2023) that is so loud you can even here it with the double glazed doors closed. It's way too loud. You'd be insane to book here between May and September I think, just for the lack of sufficient AC provision. UPDATE: yesterday we came back to the apartment and there was a random cleaner in there. We were not advised at any point that a stranger would enter our apartment, we had valuables and cash lying around on the side table and coffee table, and there is not even a safe to store stuff in. We complained and the management didn't give two hoots. They said they thought they'd send in a cleaner off the cuff as we are staying for 12 days, and said sorry for not telling us. Reality is, it's a serious breach of privacy and security and it's a massive issue for me. This management company simply doesn't care about anything except money. Stay away.