Most people don’t realize how easy it is to ruin a great trip with just a few wrong decisions. And after living in Portugal for years and personally checking hotels, restaurants, routes and experiences — I see the same mistakes again and again. Here are the big ones (and how I save you from them): 1. Booking the “best deal” hotel… only to realize the vibe is totally wrong. I check hotels in person so you end up in places that feel right for you. 2. Losing days on long transfers and bad routing.