If I may pass along some sage advice about traveling in Spain and Portugal, it would be this: mind the cubiertos. You know that bread in a baggie that’s dropped off on your table in a manner so casual and gracious you’re certain it’s free? Well, it’s not.

Pop open the pan and you can be sure a cubierto – cover charge – will also pop up on your bill.

And you know those lovely looking goose barnacles served as a starter at that fine seafood restaurant on the coast north of Lisbon? The ones the waiter delivered to your table the moment you sat down, and practically called a gift from the chef?

Okay, maybe your limited Portuguese misunderstood the gift part. But still…did you really deserve the six euro fleecing on top of your already hefty bill? It’s a fine line in Europe, knowing when something is given as a little gift and when you’re going to end up paying – often dearly – for the pleasure.

Usually, at the end of the meal, if you’re offered a small shot of alcohol, you can count on it being a thank you gesture from the restaurant. If you’re not sure, you can ask. But that can end up being embarrassing, too.

The way I see it, anything offered to me before I’ve ordered is suspect. I’ve found that in Spain and Portugal in particular – and especially in the more touristy cities such as Barcelona and Salamanca – anything just dropped off at the table implies a cubierto.

In Portugal, I passed on the initial bread offering at one restaurant, but naively believed that the second basket of tiny melba toasts delivered with my meal was included. Needless to say, it wasn’t. Those Europeans are clever, I tell you.

And it can get even trickier once you’re onto the cubierto concept, and try to outfox them by not eating the bread. In Spain, I found myself trying to argue the cubierto off my bill, indicating the bread rolls in their little baggies, pushed to the edge of the table in rejection.

“Are you sure you didn’t have any bread?” demanded the waiter. And I found myself wondering if somehow I had.

- by Terry Ward

Monica Guy has been dutifully rounding up the best boutique hotels in Lisbon for the past two weeks. Now, she's telling you where to stay in the city. Like actual neighborhoods. Enjoy.

Lisbon is such as spangbankingly excellent place that you're unlikely to spend much time inside your hotel. But it does matter where your hotel is - the city is built over seven hills and if you choose a hotel on the wrong side of one, you'll have a long, hard, trek home.

A hotel's location also matters in Lisbon because each area has its own personality. If you're a hardcore clubber, you'll want to crawl (a short way) back to your bed in the early

Okay, so Lisbon ain't yet the place to find a whole load of design hotels. The first one was Jerónimos 8, right outside the city centre. Following suit, but this time slap bang in the  heart of Lisbon's downtown area, is the Lisboa Tejo.

First confession: The Lisboa Tejo is more a brave attempt at a design hotel than a design hotel proper. A hotel de charme, let's say.

But it's a damn fine brave attempt. Stepping in is a surprise - running water, curvy wood, deep blues and yellows and tiled mosaics everywhere. There's a bar also, open to the public, which adds a kind of cosmo touch to the place.

We can't talk about the Lisbon Hotel Scene without mentioning Lisbon's most decadent address, Lapa Palace.

Yet anyone not rich enough to stay there will almost certainly never see it - the Lapa Palace hides its gaily painted face in a little-visited area of Lisbon (Lapa), miles from the tourist sights, main roads and nightlife.

This is probably done to discourage the riff-raff from poking their noses in as prices range from €425 ($630) to €575 ($850) for a night in a superior room, all the way up to €1650 ($2435) for a deluxe room.

Two sister hotels from the small Heritage Hotel family in Lisbon illustrate just how much difference a street name can make to the price of a hotel room.

The big sister Lisboa Plaza (above) opened 50 years ago on a quiet side street just 20m from the busy Avenida da Liberdade - Lisbon's Champs Élysées.

It's a beautiful classic 4-star hotel, run by the same family since its opening, and with little designer touches by well-known Portuguese designer Graça Viterbo. 94 rooms over six floors, with all the bells and whistles including free Wi-Fi. Prices for a double room start around €165 ($243).

One of the few hotels in Lisbon you'll catch tourist taking photographs of - the Eden VIP Aparthotel has the most spectacular art deco façade and most visitors think it's some kind of palace.

The 4-star hotel's stone gallery filled with tumbling leafy gardens used to front the Eden theatre before the building was converted by the VIP Hotels group. The conversion was so good the hotel was award several prizes by the Portuguese government.

And to top it all off, it has the most excellent location right in busy Restauradores square, in downtown Lisbon.

Monica Guy returns to us again this month with her take on the Lisbon Hotel Scene. It seems that boutique hotels are battling each other left and right for hotel guests. So how do the contenders shake out? Read here to find out. Got a question? Send it to us and we'll get it answered for you.

If stop no.1 on the Lisbon tourist train is the Castelo São Jorge, stop no.2 is Belém. Belém is a 20-minute tram ride west of the city centre and a visitor's paradise of museums, monuments, a monastery and, mmmm... gardens.

If you want to stay in Belém, call up Hotel Jerónimos 8, the best design hotel in

Monica Guy returns to us again this month with her take on the Lisbon Hotel Scene. It seems that boutique hotels are battling each other left and right for hotel guests. So how do the contenders shake out? Read here to find out. Got a question? Send it to us and we'll get it answered for you.

If you can't afford the Solar do Castelo, or can't be bothered to hike up all the way up the steep hill to it, stop instead 100m below at the equally fabulous Solar dos Mouros.

It's a 12-room hotel just a few steps down from Lisbon's iconic Castelo de São Jorge, with a swish arty lounge

Monica Guy returns to us again this month with her take on the Lisbon Hotel Scene. It seems that boutique hotels are battling each other left and right for hotel guests. So how do the contenders shake out? Read here to find out. Got a question? Send it to us and we'll get it answered for you.

Stop no.1 on the Lisbon tourist train is the Castelo São Jorge, or St. George's Castle. Once upon a time, the castle and its surrounding walls were pretty much all there was to Lisbon - it used to be a Moorish castle, then a king's palace, then later a prison and a soldier's barracks.

Now it's a top

Monica Guy returns to us again this month with her take on the Lisbon Hotel Scene. It seems that boutique hotels are battling each other left and right for hotel guests. So how do the contenders shake out? Read here to find out. Got a question? Send it to us and we'll get it answered for you.

Wow, a stunner of a boutique hotel in Lisbon. It's right opposite the equally superb As Janelas Verdes and it's a hard fight between them as to which is the best.

York House is in an old convent dating back to 1606 but it's been thoroughly revamped and swished up to 4-star status. Royals and celebrities from all