Pestana CR7 Lisboa: A 4-Star Hotel in Lisbon
When my husband and I were planning our trip to Lisbon (you can read all about it in my Lisbon Guide), choosing where to stay felt like one of the most important decisions we’d make. We landed on the Pestana CR7 Lisboa, and it turned out to be exactly the right call for how we wanted to experience the city for our first visit.
While for future trips to Lisbon I plan to stay in other quieter neighborhoods, this hotel was ideal for our first visit because it is so close to all the major tourist attractions. It was also affordably priced for a hotel of this caliber. It was convenient, a great value and a fun hotel.
Why We Chose This Hotel
The biggest draw for us was the location. The Pestana CR7 Lisboa sits right in the historic district of Baixa Pombalina, just a short walk from Praça do Comércio, one of the largest and most iconic squares in Europe. Being able to step outside and immediately be in the middle of everything made a huge difference for how we structured our days in Lisbon. We were able to cover a lot of ground quickly, and the itinerary I’d built for us was quite robust.
We also chose this hotel because it offered a great value. As a 4-star hotel in a major European capital, we expected to pay a premium, but our room ended up costing only around 120 euro per night. For the location, quality, and service we received, that felt like a very reasonable price.
The hotel is part of the Pestana Hotel Group, which has a great reputation for quality hotels throughout Portugal and beyond. I had thoroughly researched the hotel group to see if it would be a fit, and I was not disappointed. In fact, I booked another hotel through this group later in the trip and it ended up being one of my favorites.
First Impressions
The hotel occupies a recently renovated historic building, and that combination works beautifully. The exterior and bones of the building carry that classic Baixa charm, while the interior is spotlessly clean and thoroughly modern. It’s a nice contrast that a lot of renovated properties in historic European cities try for, and this one pulls off well.
The staff also stood out immediately. Everyone we interacted with, from check-in through the rest of our stay, was warm, helpful, and quick to answer questions about the neighborhood and how to get around.
Our Room
We booked the CR7 Room, which is the smallest room category the hotel offers. If you’re used to more spacious American hotel rooms, it may feel compact, but it was right in line with what we’ve come to expect from smaller rooms across Europe. It was comfortable, well-designed, and had everything we needed for our stay.
A Practical Booking Tip
Our flight into Lisbon landed around 5:30 a.m., and I don’t sleep well on planes, so I made the decision to book our hotel room starting the night before our arrival. That way, we had a room waiting for us the moment we landed, and we could take a power nap and shower before heading out to explore.
In hindsight, that was one of the smartest decisions we made for this trip. I didn’t feel fabulous after the overnight flight, and having a place to reset made the rest of the day so much more enjoyable.
Location: Convenience vs. Crowds
With this hotel, there is a trade-off to consider – convenience vs. crowds. Because the Pestana CR7 Lisboa is so centrally located, it’s also busy. This is a hotel in the thick of one of Lisbon’s most popular tourist areas, so if you’re looking for a quiet retreat, this may not be it. For us, the convenience of being able to walk to nearly everything outweighed the trade-off of a livelier atmosphere, but it’s worth thinking about what matters more for your own trip: being in the center of it all, or having a quieter home base to return to.
Personally, for our first visit to Lisbon it was ideal. As I’d mentioned earlier, our itinerary was packed, and since this hotel was close to many of the attractions we wanted to see, we saved a lot of time getting to each of them. If you have a lot of ground to cover in 3-4 days like we did, you might like a hotel like this that’s so close to everything.
Now that my husband and I have seen many of the major tourist attractions in Lisbon, our next visit there will be at a slower pace, so we will likely stay in a quieter area. I will probably book again with the Pestana Hotel Group, which has many hotels throughout the city to choose from.
Dining and Drinks
We didn’t eat at the hotel during our stay, so I can’t personally speak to the food. I did, however, get a look at the breakfast, which you can pay extra for during your stay and it looked like a good spread! There is a nice seating area for breakfast in the lobby, which many guests were enjoying.
Even if you don’t pay extra for the breakfasts, the hotel still treats you to a complimentary glass of wine at the bar, which we enjoyed on our second night. It’s a nice bar and it was a lovely way to unwind after a day of exploring.
Final Thoughts
The Pestana CR7 Lisboa delivered exactly what we needed: a clean, modern, well-located hotel with excellent staff, all at a very fair price for a 4-star property. If convenient access to Lisbon’s top sights is a priority for you, this hotel is well worth considering.
For more on what to see and do while you’re in the city, check out my in-depth article about our visit to Lisbon, and be sure to visit Lily Travel for more hotel highlights and destination guides.
