Is Lisbon really 400+ a night in mid April?

When we were in Lisbon, we found Airbnb units plentiful and much less expensive than hotels, even in the heart of the city.

Hmmm. Take a look at the Accor chain. For a random example: Novotel Lisboa for 2 adults and a ten year old child, April 14-17: $480 total for 3 nights. Have a great trip!

LOL, one reason I stopped giving hotel recommendations on here, I realized I was too cheap for most people.

Maybe try looking at Booking.com, you can select "Hotels" only, as well as the number of people, and on the map you can see the options for the areas you are interested in.

Metro stations are also shown on the map, but for 3, Uber or Bolt would probably be less from the airport.

I am seeing lots of well rated hotels for under $200 a night

Knowing how to search for "reliable" information is becoming a skill again.

Another question is whether is has to be Lisbon. Perhaps it does; however, if your travel goal is Portugal generally, rather than Lisbon in particular, you may want to consider other parts of the country. For example I took a quick look at a great hotel where i stayed last December in Porto, and found they still offer rooms with "two twin beds" in the area of $200 per night.

Check Hotel Lisboa Plaza - we stayed there on a Rick Steves tour several years ago, really liked it, we booked extra nights and price was reasonable. Looks like they have double rooms and you can get an extra bed. Location is a few blocks from Restauradoras subway and Rossio train station, and an easy walk to Rua Augusta shopping/dining.

Thank you, Rebecca. I just checked and it’s 409 a night. This seems to be the going rate for anything in the center. I’m looking at April 10-13.

The April dates are probably the cause then, high demand!

hey hey amy
lots of changes in 2 years, prices have skyrocketed sky high everywhere, euro is up to.
you're late in reserving since many are wanting to get away for USA spring breaks, ending of easter and portugal has become a popular place nowdays. many hotels have been booked months in advance leaving some slim pickins left, plus you are staying over a weekend, finding a place for three can get sticky but if a sofa bed for 10 year old may be okay.
booking.com
search lisbon, dates, people and filters on left side to show what there is left. read fine print, cancellation policies, beds, bathroom,
some times staying further away will cost you in transportation and time, which you can put into cost of hotel and roam around the town for activities, shops, restaurants.
it's up to you and priorities that suits you, are you planning to go somewhere else after lisbon? probably same issues with hotel rates and places will be crowded in the big cities and holiday. good luck and have a great time,
aloha

Prices go way up the weeks around Easter. If you can wait a week, they might go down. Also, wanting a triple room increases the price. Booking.com is definitely the way to go. You can set the filters to your maximum rate.

We were in Lisbon last November and didn’t pay anywhere close to that. I recommend you look at Airbnb or Booking.dot.com for an apartment rental. I booked on Airbnb and we had a large 2 bedroom apartment. We paid less than $200 per night. It was a great location and the apartment was wonderful.

I stayed at the Lisbonaire a few years ago. They are apartments with a front desk. Really good location.

https://lisbonaire.com/

or can book on booking,com

Thanks, everyone. As I look up hotels now (there are about 8 recommended on this forum regularly), they're all around $120-150 now, but soar in mid-April. I'm aware of the Easter spike but thought a week later we might be out of it by coming a week later. Unfortunately, this is tied to a school spring break so can't really change our dates. We are tied to Lisbon in that flying into Porto (which is where I really want to go) adds hours and hours (like minimum 12-15 per leg). We lose too much time by not flying into Lisbon. Plus, while I've been to Lisbon, my DH has not, and would really like to see it. I thought about removing a night stay-over and heading to Coimbra as a way to break the journey to Porto. It makes everything pretty right in Lisbon (like a half-day on arrival) then since one of the three days planned there is for Sintra. I know I'm late. For my most recent Europe trips, I had everything booked by December-early Jan.

In April 2018, we stayed at the Hotel Real Palacio on Rua Tomas Ribeiro. The lobby and public rooms are beautiful, and the staff are professional and helpful. Our room was spacious, including the bathroom, and we had lots of storage room. The hotel is near the Marques de Pombal and Edward VII Park, so it's not right in the city center. It did take us about 20 to 25 minutes to walk downtown, but it was a very enjoyable walk down Ave Liberdade. There are several metro stops nearby. We were within easy walking distance to the Gulbenkian Museum. In 2018 the hotel room rate was very reasonable, much less expensive than the city center hotels, which is why we chose this hotel. Not sure what their rates are now, but it's worth looking into.
https://www.realpalacio.realhotelsgroup.com/?partner=9883&msclkid=349835149b1e1e3b91c35c80789f42df

Off topic, but be sure to go to the Aquarium in Lisbon. It is outstanding and was my favorite thing about Lisbon. They also have a zoo, but I didn't go there.