Selina “Secret Garden”
Lisbon, Portugal 🇵🇹 and 5 other locations
→ selina.com
✉️
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 please interpret other's opinions per your own needs and values
I had a really pleasant stay at Selina Secret Garden. The atmosphere was great, and one of the highlights was the rooftop party — it was super fun and a perfect chance to meet people from all over the world. I especially enjoyed the friendly interactions with the staff, particularly Leonardo, Valdano, and Mario, who made the experience even more welcoming. The bedrooms were comfortable and clean, which made it easy to relax after a long day. Overall, a great mix of social vibes and comfort!
Loud guests at night/early morning may interrupt your sleep. Addressed the issue with reception and they were able to help asap, unfortunately you can’t do much about guests who act like this is a fancy hotel they can be loud in making banging sounds at 5 am. Insane.. otherwise super great location and staff
-DO NOT STAY HERE-
Sadly this property does not offer good value for money. We paid €234 for a room for two nights. The fan was so weak you could barely feel it a few centimetres away. The room was incredibly hot, we didn’t rest for the two days. The restaurant is overpriced and low quality. The noise from the drunk people on the street was unbearable.
This is why Selina as a chain went out of business.
BED BUG, BITES AND HORRIBLE CUSTOMER SERVICE
Shame on the management
I don’t even know where to begin explaining my horrendous experience with Selina Secret garden hostel
I won’t even sugar coat it; The worst customer service I have ever experienced- even before myself and my friend found A BED BUG in our room…
Bed bug was spotted on the pillow. We took it to reception who just told us to speak to the manager tomorrow and to go put the BUG BACK IN THE ROOM………. room 211, if anyone is staying there, please be cautious.
My friend and I have bites all over our arms and legs that have been itching for a week now post leaving the hostel.
The woman at the desk we were told to speak to, Natalia.. honestly worst woman i have ever spoken with, as someone who has been in the customer service/ serving industry all my life, i cannot believe this woman still has a job, but it’s just the standards for this hostel- none of the staff knew what they were doing, none of them offered any solid help- my friend and i had to ask for a new room, ask to heat dry our infested clothes, ask for garbage bags, ASK for a refund…. no one offered anything.
She gave us attitude, was lying to us as out the manager being out of the building, wasted so much of our time… i could go on and on
We felt very very stressed, as everyone knows bed bugs are very serious and frankly really dangerous- so easy to bring on the plane ride, and into our homes.
After the manager wasting hours of our time ( we were told he would come speak to us in the morning, we waited in reception for over and hour and he still did not turn up, we had to come back hours later and practically beg to speak with him…-note HE was the one that requested a meeting with us, and yet he had us waiting for hours).
In the end they offered a refund for just the day we found the bug….. which makes complete zero logical sense… so basically; congrats for finding the bug, here’s €70 out of the €300 that you paid ????????? it’s comical at this point how insane this entire situation was. we asked for a refund of our entire stay because we wasted 2 entire days cleanings our clothes, buying new clothes, waiting around for managers…. complete stress- and they said no. so we’re currently disputing it with our credit card company.
the fact that this accommodation has been called out MULTIPLE TIMES FOR BED BUGS and still they don’t care?? unreal.
Complete lack of respect for our time.
I would never treat people the way we got treated
not to mention that the shared toilets are so dirty, if you take the duvet covers off, there’s brown stains in the duvet….
BED BUGS!
My partner and I arrived at Selina and upon checking in we checked the room for bed bugs following US EPA guidelines, which is something we do anytime we're staying away from home. The mattress cover in room 305 was covered in blood spots as is found when there are or have been bed bugs. After alerting reception we were offered room 504 and upon inspecting that bed similar blood stains were visible (photos attached). The patterning of these blood spots stains is not something that would be caused by someone bleeding on the mattress for another reason. As the stains on two different floors and rooms suggest either an active bed bug infestation or one that was not fully treated, we decided not to stay and booked another hotel at a significant expense and stress as it was after 8pm already. If Selina was serious about treating the infestation they would have thrown out and replaced the mattress covers.
While the receptionist seemed understanding, she doubted that the stains were from bed bugs, which is alarming considering (1) all of the other recent reviews about bed bugs and (2) identification of signs of bed bugs should be basic knowledge for anyone in the hotel business. She said she was unable to refund us and that her manager who did have the ability to do so was unavailable, despite the fact that we could see and hear her sending and receiving voice memos to/from the manager about the situation while we were standing there.
We have now emailed the Selina email address that the receptionist provided 3 different times and have received no response whatsoever. We received an automatic email from them that canceled the reservation, but we still haven't received any refund. This level of service (or lack thereof) is extremely unprofessional and unacceptable and shows poor regard for customer and public health.
Such a beautiful place to stay in Lisbon! You only have to be as social as you want but if you’re looking to meet fellow travelers this is a great place to start. The beds have very private curtains if you choose the bunks. They’ll hold your luggage for you if you’re in town before check in or if you need to explore before it’s time to leave. The pool and rooftop bar are absolutely stunning. Very safe and close to everything. With tourism increasing in Lisbon this is a great and sustainable way to explore the city. Highly recommend!
Selina in Lisbon is a great co-working space. I stayed in a female only dorm space that had 2 rooms connected by a large bathroom space with 2 shared toilets/showers. This set up worked well. The rooms were good size. Storage space in each bunk with drawers under. Lockers available - but too slim to use. No one used them. Co-working space is great! My favorite was yoga in the morning 🩷🩷 the women in the dorms were in their late twenties through thirties and all were really wonderful women!
Pro:
- comfy beds with storage space
- great layout of female dorm + bathroom
- close to laundry service (€10 to drop off and pick up when ready)
- yoga in the AM
- coworking space
Cons:
- lockers pointless
- pricier option
- restaurant hours were not great
Reviews on Google Reviews on Facebook👁🗨The page may include unverified public content from both official and user social media, as linked for attribution. Details may not be entirely accurate, send feedback.