Has anybody used "The Good Life Abroad" for accomodations in Lisbon or any place else in Europe? What are your experiences with them? Are they a reputable travel company?
Posted by
Coeur d’Alene, Idaho, USA
15366 posts
There is a multi-page thread on the Trip Advisor Senior Forum about The Good Life Abroad company that has been going for more than a year. There are only 2 posts out of 66 with people posting actual experience with the company and frankly, one of them sounds like a shill/AI post. (way too vague)
They are new so not sure how reputable they will turn out to be but no one has come back to that thread to say they have been shafted.
There is someone on the thread who says they are signed up for May 2025 for Lisbon. They apparently offer more than just accommodation. Early on in the life of that thread, I did a quick comparison of apartments in Florence and this company's charges and it seemed really expensive but travel styles and budgets are different.
Posted by
Duluth 🛶
8931 posts
I just checked them out on Google and there are 15 reviews; all positive. However, every one of those reviewers has no more than 4-5 reviews, which is unusual. Sure, there are reviewers with only a small amount of reviews but to have ALL the reviewers only have a small amount is weird. Most people who write Google reviews have dozens, if not hundreds (I have over 200 myself).
Not saying they're fake reviews, but I'd be a bit cautious.
Posted by
OP
9 posts
I was getting the same feelings as both of you shared. Thank you for validating my thoughts.
Posted by
Lancaster, PA
2 posts
My wife and I were in Lisbon with Good Life Abroad in October 2024. It was a very positive experience and we have booked a stay in Split with Good Life Abroad for October this year. We have travelled a fair amount in Europe usually getting AirBnBs and arranging all of our own travel. Many people correctly argue that you can probably find a cheaper accommodation by getting your owe AirBnB. While this is true Good Life Abroad offers other benefits that I believe make it an option worth considering. First, with Good Life Abroad they find the apartment; they vet it, and if there are issues, they handle them. This is much simpler than doing it on your own. We had a very nice apartment at the top end of Ave da Liberdade very near a sub way stop and away from, but walkable to, the busy tourist areas. The rest of our group was close by. Second, and maybe most importantly, you are with a cohort of about a dozen other travelers and there are usually three activities a week - a lunch, a happy hour, and an event like a cooking class, wine tasting, walking tour, trip to Sintra, etc. I'm not sure what the cash value of these activities would have been, but for example, I was looking at cooking classes to do own our owe and the one we did with the program would have cost 100 euros a person. And several of the lunches were very good. So, the added value is non-trivial. You get a balance of activities with your cohort and time on your own as you choose. We did several trips outside of Lisbon on our own and nearly everyone else did a weekend in Porto. We had a good group and organized four or five dinners together outside of the program, and still keep in touch. Finally, there is a program manager who arrange activities and who regularly provided advice on things to do. She was also a person to call in the event of a problem. For us this added up to a good experience, one I can recommend without reservation.
I would also put in a good word for Lisbon. It was a great city to spend this much time in. It is hilly, but walkable if you are reasonably fit. I would do an hour walk every morning. The subway and bus systems are great and Ubers are cheap. It has a fair number of good museums. The port area where the cruise ships come in gets crowded, but after a week or so you learn how to manage or avoid the area. The food - lots of seafood - and wine are good and reasonably priced.
Hope this helps.
Posted by
Lancaster, PA
2 posts
Me again. Reading through the tread I realized I might not have answered the question clearly. Is Good Life Abroad a reputable travel company? The answer is yes. It is a young company, but they know their business. The founder Andrew Motiwalla has been involved with international travel one way or another for several decades. The Lisbon community manager was experienced and had an excellent knowledge of the city. As I said in my previous post, we are going to be doing another trip with them and several of the other people in our Lisbon cohort have or will be doing other trips with them as well. What Good Life Abroad promises, they deliver on.