Unreal Hostel Lisboa, Lisbon

Unreal Hostel is a hostel in central Lisbon close to the Sheraton Hotel.

They have 140 beds in a six story building.

It is in a very central location, in Picoas, on the yellow line of the Metro.

They provide breakfast from 8.30am -10am, It is more than just a continental breakfast, comprising cheese and ham as well as the usual rolls and jam. It is actually a very good breakfast, with orange juice, coffee, hot milk, tea and chocolate and you can take all you can eat.

You will get clean and plentiful bed linen, towel and covers. A great thing is the free and secure luggage storage they offer, this means you can go out for the day after you check out and come back in the evening to pick up your stuff without any worries.There are free lockers in all dorm rooms, on payment of a a returnable deposit of three euros.There is free internet access throughout the building. You can use your own machine or the hostel's. The staff is reasonably friendly and welcoming.

There is cable TV in the TV lounge and there is also a quiet lounge with books and magazines.

You can cook your own meals in the Guest Kitchen but they kick you out at midnight. The kitchen is well equipped and there is usually a shelf of free food left behind by former guests that you can use. You can then eat your food in the top floor dining room, which is large and light with big windows

The showers are hot but you have to keep pressing the button if you want a long shower. However, unlike many hostels, Unreal Hostel, Lisbon does have enough shower facilities for everybody to have a shower when they want.

You can check In from 3p.m. until 00h00 (later with previous notice)
Check-out is at 11a.m.

This hostel is a convenient base for exploring the city centre. The area has all the restaurants, bars and shops you would expect to find in such a central location, as well as banks, supermarkets and night life venues.

There are single, double and quadruple bedrooms or rooms for 5 people. Those come with private en suite facilities. The cheapest rooms are the mixed dorms, for up to twelve people, with shared toilet and showers. You can usually pick up a bed in one of these dorms for about eight pounds a night.

Also unlike some other hostels, you can feel secure here, as they have a 24 hour reception, so there are always staff on duty.

Lisbon Unreal Hostel has generally had good reviews from its guests, who described it as "super clean, super big and has a great kitchen facility... Very secure and safe."

However not everybody is keen.

"It lacks ANY form of atmosphere whatsoever. All of the money in this place has gone to something that I personally am ashamed of. ... If all we going to be left with in 20 years time is these monster hostels, then im glad im doing my travelling now"

Some guests also question the use of CCTV throughout the hostel, however, this is mild big brother-ism, compared to what goes on in other hostels, such as the Lisbon Amazing hostels, which I reviewed earlier, and the Baluarte Citadino hostels, which use fingerprint recognition entry technology.