This hotel is situated between the airport and Lisbon centre in a quiet location. The staff are all friendly, very helpful and polite and speak English. The rooms vary quite a bit in size and quality, but all of the hotel is very clean and tidy. The rooms on the inside or back of the hotel do not have much natural light or any kind of view, but that isn't much of a problem if you are going to be out most of the day. We stayed an extra week there during the recent flight disruptions and the staff were very supportive and sorted out rooms for us and made sure we weren't moved around. The breakfast is fairly standard with breads, cereals, cheese, ham & other spreads as well as tea, coffee and cold drinks. If you arrive in Lisbon early, the hotel will ask you to leave your luggage in their locked room and return to check in after 2pm as their check out time is Midday. This hotel is not quite where Google Earth says it is, so the best way into town is either the bus that leaves from outside the front of the hotel or walk to Picoas metro station - turn left out of the hotel & walk for about 10 minutes. Public transport is cheap in Lisbon, get a green card from the metro station and charge it for the number of days you need, or get a travel card from a post office. The card will get you onto the metro, busses and trams as well as the funiculars and street lift. Food is difficult in Portugal for vegetarians, but there are some good Italian and Asian restaurants in Lisbon that do good food at reasonable prices. If you have time, take a train to Sintra, it is very picturesque, but make sure the weather is good!

we stayed there for 6 nights the 14th-19th of march and we really liked it. the service was good, the room was large (I think that's because we got a room for 3+ and were only two), and I liked the location a lot. it wasn't on a busy street so it was pretty quiet at night. It was only a few blocks from a metro stop so it was convenient to everything.

when we went down to breakfast every morning I think we were the only Americans every day at that particular time but I'm not sure. I'm not sure why, the room was basic, but clean and the water pressure in the shower was great. I suppose it could be compared to a motel 6 or super 8; there was wifi if you had a computer I think, which we didn't.

This is one of the worst hotels I have stayed in. In the hotel brochure it says that it is located 5 minutes form the city center. That must be by taxi, since it's about a 25 minute walk and the walk to the metro is 10 min. The room that we stayed in had an enormous bed that took up most of the space. The bed was incredibly uncomfortable. The bathroom was very big, but had a weird smell. The hallways also had a weird smell. The breakfast was ok, but the "juice" was not drinkable.

We stayed three nights in the Joao XXI. in April 2008.
The rooms are very small but with a bathroom ensuite. They got cleaned every day. The hotel in general is clean as well.
It is located about 10 minutes from the next metro station. There is also a bus stop directly in front of the hotel with a connection to the city center.
The staff is VERY friendly and helpful! The reception is open 24 h.

To sum up, I can say that you get what you pay for. I would go back there again.