Selina “Secret Garden”
Lisbon
in Portugal 🇵🇹 and 7 other locations selina.com 
✉️
offers:
The largest network of hip spaces across the globe, most being hostels with shared or private rooms for shorter stays. Some offer dedicated coworking (extra cost) and other facilities such as pool and restaurant.
Reviews we don't rate spaces—please interpret other's opinions per your own values
COWORKING REVIEW
I can only speak for the coworking space which is what I utilized.
Came in for a day first, to give it a try and decided to get an entire week after that. They offer day, week & monthly passes. You have access to a desk (not fixed unless you get the monthly pass). Access to free coffee, tea, cookies/crackers, cake(on Tuesday and Thursday afternoons) and other goodies.
The stuff is super friendly and they were very accommodating with my specific requests.
By getting the week pass I was able to access the kitchen for guests to store and cook my own food which was a plus, and you could also jump in the pool.
It has an outdoor area with tables and the indoor space has some cubicles for privacy during calls(you’d have to check availability and reserve). The restrooms are always super clean.
Is hard to control the noise from guests, specially big groups yet I had a really good experience overall.
I am writing to express my disappointment and frustration with the service I have received from Selina Hotel. My husband’s grandfather passed away on April 15, 2024, and we reached out on April 23 to request a date change for our reservation due to his funeral on June 3. Despite the circumstances, our request was declined.
We have been corresponding with your team for the past month and a half, but unfortunately, the situation remains unresolved. The lack of empathy and understanding shown by your team has been very disheartening. We were even willing to pay more, despite the fact that our chosen new date was cheaper.
In contrast, we had a booking in Porto during the same period, and the hotel there accommodated our date change request within five minutes without any issues. Unfortunately, Selina Hotel has not shown the same level of customer service and flexibility.
I hope you can understand the emotional and financial strain this has caused us. We still believe in the possibility of resolving this amicably and hope that you will reconsider our request.
First, this place is a HOSTEL. If you’re thinking, “Oh, I can book a single room or a suite and save money and it will be just as good as a hotel.” That’s incorrect. This is a hostel. I don’t know how to stress enough, this is a hostel and not a hotel.
You’re first greeted by an alleyway filled with trash which leads you to check-in (photo). The rest of your experience does not get better than this. Currently, the only redeeming quality of this facility is the rooftop. However, the rooftop is closed for reservations or something else so it is unusable.
The room is laughably small. The curtains are not sized for the windows and do not block all of the light (see photo). You cannot control the temperature in your room. There is no climate control. There is a fan in your room which serves to push the warm air around. If you open the window, the incredible smell of cigarettes fills your room despite the “No Smoking” signs in your room. Clearly, no smoking does not extend to the rest of the property.
Again, you can get a far nicer hotel for the same price. Don’t stay here.
After check-in and seeing our room on the first floor, we asked to move to another room due to the above-mentioned issues. We were told there were no other rooms available that night, but we could switch to another room the next day. We took that option and tried another room, this time on the second floor. This room was larger and on the rear side of the building. There was substantially less cigarette smell but the room was even hotter. On our second night the alarm system blared loudly around 3 am and woke me up. The alarm, coupled with street noises, and the heat meant I did not sleep. After our second night we gave up, checked out and moved to a much nicer hotel with air conditioning for essentially the same price.
CONS: no air conditioning, trashy entrance, loud patrons, cigarettes.
PROS: instarammable aesthetic.
This facility only gets two stars for moving us on the second night.
I will die on this hill: never underestimate a great location. Selina Secret Garden is exactly this. Stayed with my girlfriends for the weekend and what a difference from my previous visits in Lisbon. The best part was they weren’t only in the middle of everything - walking distance to brunch spots, parks, shopping, sites - but also had such friendly service, good vibes, and honestly, experienced amazing sleep! Highly recommend for those who wanna make new friends while having an easy going trip!
Great hostel, with a really nice vibe. Staff were lovely. The shared bathrooms should be cleaned more often. There were also stains on the sheets.
I thoroughly enjoyed my stay at this Selina. I stayed in the micro room, which was well-equipped with everything I needed. The coworking space was excellent, offering fast and reliable Wi-Fi. The location was fantastic—very central, with plenty of good food options and cafés nearby.
For those who haven't stayed at a Selina before, be aware that it tends to attract a younger crowd. Another point to note is that the walls are quite thin, so you can hear sounds from outside and adjacent rooms. While this didn't bother me, it's something to consider.
Over highly recommend!
Selina used to be great, but during the past few years the change to lower standards service became their trademark.
We've just been to the one in Lisbon, second time for me, and the hostel now it's just a memory of the past. Expect young on site management without people or problem solving skills with facilities overall a bit run down. There is a rooftop that was closed for works, but nowhere on the app this was mentioned when we've booked, which is rather disappointing as this hostel for 2 people sleeping in a shared 6 beds dorm, costs like an Airbnb in Alfama (entire flat!). If we knew beforehand, we would have booked somewhere else so definitely no transparent communication on their end at all.
Shared showers are just about ok - the difference when sleeping in a private bedroom VS a shared one is huge, but still this hostel has nicer rooms than other hostels I've been at...if you are ready to pay more ofc.
Long story short: before booking, triple check that ALL their facilities are accessible by calling or messaging them, otherwise you just pay for their name but you don't get what you pay for.
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