The good:
- The host is very quick with communication and accommodating to special circumstances. Very nice guy.
- Very good and clear check in and check out instructions. Easy to get into and out of.
- Apartment is centrally located near transit, and easy to find.
- Apartment was very clean upon arrival.
- The elevator, though old, was very useful with luggage.
- It was relatively quiet at night, even if you had the windows open.
- Felt very safe inside the apartment.
The not-so-good:
- Apartment was not well stocked for the amount of guests we had and number of nights stayed. We had 5 guests booked for 4 nights, and were provided: Only 2 rolls of toilet paper, no hand soap (one small hotel bar for shower and hands), 2 coffee pods, 2 tea pods, 2 packs of sugar, no dishwashing soap aside from the pods for the dishwasher. So if we wanted to wash knives or the cutting board without running the dishwasher, we were out of luck.
- If you want to cook, you have to bring your own spices. Though there was a cutting board, basic utensils and cookware, there were no other cooking supplies, even the bare basics such as oil, salt or pepper. Only one burner on the stovetop worked as well, so could only use one burner at a time. And the knives wouldn't cut a banana, they were very dull.
- In the end, we had to buy toilet paper, hand soap for the bathroom, dish soap for the sink, salt and pepper for cooking, additional tea, coffee and sugar.
- The bed is the hardest thing I've ever slept on. The kind that will jar your whole body if you try to sit-bounce on it. It also retained body heat, so if you sleep warm, that might be an issue. In July in Paris, with no fans or AC, it gets pretty warm at night.
- The apartment was the kind of cheaply renovated that the dishwasher wasn't actually attached and liked to fall out towards the floor from the cabinet if you had the bottom shelf loaded and pulled out. The doors to the fridge and the washing machine didn't line up properly so you had to open one to close the other, and the flooring in front of the bathroom door was raised so the door scraped along the floor when you closed it.
- There was one trash can for the entire apartment in the corner of the living room. All kitchen and bathroom trash had to make its way out to that one garbage can.
- A couple of times the automated coded key lock wouldn't engage to lock the apartment. The host told us how to fix this, though we had already had to leave the apartment unlocked in order to make the event we were there to attend on time. We just had to hope no one opened the door while we were gone. I think it was a testament to the safety of the building that our belongings were undisturbed by the time we returned.
Overall, whether this is good for you to stay depends on your needs. If you are 2 people, staying one night, possibly two, you love firm mattresses and don't plan on cooking, this is a fantastic value and wonderful place to stay.
If you have more people than that, are planning a longer stay, and want to make full use of the kitchen, you just might need to buy more supplies during your stay. And you'll have to learn to love a firm mattress.