It was a nice, comfortable place to stay with a great location in the middle of Paris, near many restaurants and coffee shops. The host was great and very communicative during our long 3-week stay, and he even offered a free weekly cleaning service so we could focus fully on our vacation and enjoy Paris with the kids; we had a blast!
When we first arrived, the cleaning lady was friendly and offered to show us around. My only disappointment was the aftermath of this stay with the cleaning lady we suspect was taking pictures of every place before it got cleaned while we were still living there. Before we checked out, my wife cleaned the apartment, mopped the floors, cleaned the kitchen, and did the dishes and laundry. Of course, we paid for the cleaning fee and an extra fee for a specialized cleaning service to remove the baby milk that was accidentally spilled on the sofa, as well as to replace an old bathroom mat destroyed per the washer dryer machine that also affected our children clothes; and an additional $50 to repair a small part of a ~30-year-old furniture that was partially damaged from normal wear and tear while trying to reset the WIFI box behind it per the host request.
After we checked out, we received a request from the host asking for a lot of money for extra cleaning fees and damages; and after reviewing the proofs; I pointed out that those pictures were taken before we left per the cleaning lady to use them against us; and you could see our personal belongings in these pictures (kid’s IPAD, wife purse, etc.).
He also claimed we had damaged a wall by showing a small scratch/hole. Who knows when that picture was taken and because of that small scratch/hole, the contractor (I suspect to be the cleaning lady husband) has to replace or redo the entire wall.
This is ridiculous, not to mention that I shared pictures/video I took before we left, and there were no scratches or anything on that wall.
Some other charges were for deep sink cleaning, which had looked like dried water droplets, spilled milk on the glass table, even it was there, it’s an easy clean with just water. He also said that we left two small stains on an office chair that I never used since my stay was supposed for relaxation only (not business), there's no way those could be from me! The host was on vacation in Mexico and never saw the property after we left; Maybe his cleaning lady is trying to take advantage of him or us? Not sure yet, but she might be after some extra work so she can get paid more.
So, to conclude, as human beings, we often like to focus on the negative, but I want to conclude that the host was very great; he offered parking, changed his time to meet us at the property, and helped me carry all the luggage on the 2nd floors; and welcomed us with wine and excellent tips for our Journey to Paris.
And if he had just met me personally at the property the day, we were leaving to see how we left that place cleaned up, this would have been a different story because I wanted to keep this relationship as we wanted to come back in December for another 2 weeks and aim to spend 30days each year in Paris with my family; and this apartment was our go-to place for future bookings. Unfortunately, it did not end well. However, I wish him all the success on his journey as a great host while we will all learn from this experience! Maybe next time I should just book hotel rooms for the peace of mind and not worry about all of this drama...let's see what happens!
Cheers.