Final Portugal Trip Report: Review of Melia Lisboa Aeroporto and the Cookie Key

This is a continuation of my Portugal trip report. See Back from Portugal! Some Thoughts, Review: TAP Air Portugal Business Class ORD to LIS, Review: Iberia Premium Economy MAD to DFW, 48 hours in Lisbon, Review: My Story Hotel Augusta, 4 nights in Nazaré  Visiting Leiria, Obidos and Sintra, Bloopers and Blunders from Driving in Portugal

This is the final post from my Portugal trip report over Spring Break 2024, and it’s a short review of our final hotel.

Our flight home on Saturday left at 8:20 am, so we decided to stay near the Lisbon airport on Friday night. I booked us two rooms at Melia Lisboa Aeroporto using our travel credits from our Capital One Venture X cards. Each room was around $186, so not really a bargain for Portugal prices. But, for those early morning flights, it’s hard to beat the location of a hotel across the street from the airport.

Arrival/Checking In

By the time we finished dropping off our rental car, it was late afternoon/early evening. We found the hotel pick-up spot in the parking garage of the airport. I called the hotel to inquire about the shuttle, and the agent said they would send it right over. It arrived 5 minutes later.

We had no issues at check-in. The hotel rep explained how we would need to use our keys for the elevator and informed us of the free breakfast hours. The rep gave us these cute souvenir cookies (one for each guest):

Funny story about the cookies: When we were heading up to our room after dinner, another guest was in the elevator attempting to press the button for his floor. He kept swiping his trolley cookie in front of the card reader, and he looked exasperated. He asked us for help. So, I dug through his paperwork and got his room key out from the folder. After he got off the elevator, I said to my husband, “Was that man trying to use a cookie as a room key?” And he replied “Yes, yes he was.” But hey, I’m sure jet lag, lack of sleep, and language barriers were factors. It still makes me giggle, though.

Our rooms

Our hotel rooms were adjacent, but not connecting. They each had two twin beds:

They were decorated in a travel motif, which I found to be adorable:

Desk with coffee maker:

Each room also had a balcony. We didn’t spend too much time out here since it was drizzling:

A curtain separated the beds from the bathroom area:

The bathroom: The shower and bathroom doors were frosted glass, which lack some privacy.

Overall, we have no complaints about the room. The beds were still a bit hard for our taste, but that’s common all over Portugal and Europe.

Hotel Amenities

Melia Lisboa Aeroporto has several amenities that we didn’t use or even check out. Sorry, we were tired!

The hotel has a 24-hour fitness center and spa. It also has an outdoor pool and whirlpool that we could see from our room balcony:

Breakfast was included and started at 4:00 a.m. for those with early flights. We didn’t check it out because we opted to sleep in a bit later instead of eating breakfast.

We did eat dinner at the hotel restaurant. It was a traditional Portuguese restaurant, and the food and service were excellent.

The hotel shares an airport shuttle with Hotel Star Inn next door. It leaves every 30 minutes in the morning and is first-come first-served. I recommend waiting early for the shuttle, as our shuttle ran out of room for everyone who was waiting. Even though the hotel is very close to the airport, I don’t recommend walking. There is a busy round-about you have to traverse in order to get to the airport, so it’s not just just a straight/easy path.

Overall Thoughts

Melia Lisboa Aeroporto was convenient for our last night in Portugal before our early flight. I don’t recommend it for sight-seeing around Lisbon, though. You can find cheaper hotels in a better location if touring is your goal.

I hope you enjoyed reading about our recent trip to Portugal. I hope to return someday, maybe in 2026?!