Hair and makeup in your room at Andaz Lisbon

The Baixa is the flat grid between the castle hill and the river, rebuilt after the 1755 earthquake, and it is the most straightforward part of Lisbon to reach. Being a few minutes from Praça do Comércio means the artist arrives without a hill, a tram or a one-way system between her and your door.

That is worth more on a tight morning than it sounds. Most delays to an on-location appointment in Lisbon are travel delays, and a central Baixa address removes almost all of them. It also means dinner in Cais do Sodré, a boat from the terminal or an event in Chiado are all short journeys once you are ready.

The appointment happens in your room and needs almost nothing from it: a plug, an upright chair rather than an armchair, and a metre of space beside a window or a lamp. The artist brings a full kit, her own hot tools and her own mirror light, so a room lit for the evening rather than for foundation at ten in the morning is not a problem.

A desk or a dressing table helps and is not required. Nothing is fixed to the walls and the room is left as it was found. If two or three of you are getting ready together, say so when you book, because at that point the size of the room matters more than the schedule does.

We work backwards from the hour you need to be ready, not forwards from an arrival time. As a planning figure, a blow-dry is about 45 minutes, makeup about 45 minutes, and hair and makeup together for one person about 90 minutes to two hours depending on the style. An updo takes longer than a blow-dry.

If you are heading to the airport, allow about 25 to 35 minutes for the run out on a normal day and more in the evening peak. If you are going to dinner in Chiado or Cais do Sodré, you are ten minutes away and can afford to finish later than you think.

Hair goes first and makeup second, so hot tools and hairspray never go near a finished face.

The artist arrives on foot with a case. There is no equipment that needs a service lift and nothing that needs to be wheeled through a lobby. In most hotels that means nobody needs to be told anything in advance.

It is still worth a word at reception if the appointment is early in the morning or if you would rather not answer the door yourself, because some properties ask that visitors be announced. Tell us the room number when the booking is confirmed and we will keep the arrival quiet.