We were so excited to stay here given the prior reviews. First, I'll start by saying that the unit is very clean with nice furniture and modern fixtures. The location is excellent. The check-in was very easy and well described in the email Gregory sent to us in advance of our arrival.
We booked three nights. Upon arrival we turned on the central heat since the unit was very cold. The apartment has radiators but after a while it didn't feel as though it was getting any warmer. I sent Gregory a message asking about it and he responded that there were two space heaters in the wardrobe. He didn't address the central heating directly. We used the space heaters that night but as you might imagine it took a long time for the small space heaters to create warmth. I wore my coat to bed the first night. The space heaters were somewhat small; the size that one might have under your desk at work, for example. They really weren't the size that you would typically use to heat an entire room.
The next morning my husband sent Gregory a message asking again about the heat as the space heaters were not enough to make sleeping comfortable. After 13 hours we didn't receive any response to our message so I wrote again. It was at that time Gregory responded that the boiler for the building needs to be replaced and that we would not have any central heating for our stay. He offered to bring another space heater over but not until the next day (meaning it would arrive only just before our final night in the apartment). I then asked whether there was additional bedding in the apartment for us to use to stay warm but Gregory never responded to this message.
I was nervous about leaving space heaters running all day while we were away from the unit. During our day in Brussels, we came back to the unit throughout the day to check that the space heaters were still safe, which was inconvenient. The next day we spent the day in Paris so to avoid any safety issues with the space heaters, we reluctantly left them turned off knowing that though it would be safer, the unit would be very cold again when we got back late that night.
When we got back that night, another space heater had been left and all three turned on. While the apartment wasn't as warm as we would have preferred, it was comfortable enough for us to sleep. We checked out the next day after our third night in the apartment.
After paying nearly $600 to stay here for three nights, to say I was disappointed about the heat situation is an understatement. The right thing to do would have been to notify us ahead of time that there would not be central heating in the unit during our stay and asking whether we still wanted our reservation. It was not until we brought up the cold in the apartment were we even told about the space heaters and not until further inquiry that the boiler needed to be replaced.
In summary, the apartment itself is very nice. If you stay here in the summer or warmer weather I'm sure it's delightful. For anyone thinking of staying here over the remainder of the winter months, I would directly inquire with the host about the state of the central heating before booking your stay.