Overall, the apartment is very nice. Like all places in Paris, it’s small, but it’s been recently renovated and the floor plan and furnishings make the most of the space. There is only one toilet, but each bedroom has a shower and sink. The windows are big, let in a lot of light, and face a park. The nearest Metro station is on the same block as the apartment. The neighborhood – and even the block – contain many choices for dining indoors or out, with options for lots of French and international cuisine. There are 3 supermarkets within walking distance. There’s an outdoor market open 2 days a week just a few blocks away. There are 3 places to buy baked goods within 5 minutes by foot.
A series of minor annoyances is leading me to give Thomas’s place in the 15th arronndisement a less-than-stellar review. In many ways the apartment was fine (or better), so I’ll be as specific as possible with the issues we encountered.
Check-in did not go well. After Thomas agreed to an early check-in for us, he dropped the conversation for nearly 24 hours. We didn’t hear from him until 10 minutes prior to when I’d said we wanted to check in, and he seemed surprised that we were there – even though I’d messaged him 3 times while we were on our way. He sent over a messenger with the key which was nice, but he didn’t let us know which apartment we’d be staying in nor the code we needed to enter the building. All-in-all, check-in took nearly an hour and I’d rate his communication as poor.
Here's the laundry list of the pretty minor issues we encountered: he didn’t leave wi-fi instructions or information about where to leave the garbage and recycling. The pillows on the bed are uncomfortable. The freezer was left dirty. There was no dish sponge or dish towel provided, so we needed to buy them because we were there for a month. There was only one extra blanket. The shower area tiles aren’t secured to the floor, so they wobble and are slippery when wet. If it were only 1 or two of these things, I wouldn’t even mention it, but it was a lot all at once and none of it would be costly to improve.
Last, Thomas didn’t leave any information about Paris or the neighborhood – this isn’t so much a complaint as a ‘why not’? The neighborhood has quite a lot to offer and getting pointed in the right direction right from the get-go would have greatly enhanced our stay there. My impression is that Thomas isn’t really into be a host so much as a landlord. At a cost for the month of nearly $4K, that was disappointing.