Our family loved staying at Olivier’s apartment. What can we say about the apartment’s prime location in the Les Halles neighborhood? It was amazing! You are within easy walking distance of: (1) Île de la Cité (Notre Dame and Sainte Chapel, (2) the Latin Quarter, (3) the Louvre and (4) the Westfield Forum des Halles mall. Moreover, the entrance to both the Châtelet metro stop and the Châtelet–Les Halles RER stop are just a few steps from the apartment. And there are tons of restaurants, shops, pharmacies, ATMs, etc. in the neighborhood.
Olivier’s spacious apartment was perfect for our family of four. It was just as described in the Airbnb listing, including the photos. Our two high school kids slept in the one bedroom with two single beds, and my wife and I slept in the other bedroom with the queen-size bed. There is plenty of closet and shelf space in each bedroom. There is one full bathroom and then two half bathrooms – one with a shower and a sink and the other with just a toilet and a small sink. (Shelf space in the bathrooms is a bit limited.) If you want to cook at all (we only ate out), the kitchen is spacious and fully equipped with modern appliances. Yes, the floors are creaky but that really isn’t an issue if you tip-toe around while others are sleeping – and don’t worry about disturbing the neighbors below because we noticed the downstairs neighbor is a place of business. The heat in the apartment (we stayed in late November) is controlled by a easy-to-use digital thermostat.
As for Olivier, he is extremely responsive to any question you may have. He provides a very helpful booklet about the apartment and the surrounding neighborhood – he is happy to e-mail you a copy in advance of your arrival if you want to conduct some pre-vacation research. As noted by another reviewer, Olivier clearly loves his apartment – he met us at check-in and carefully walked us through all the different features of the apartment, as well as the Les Halles neighborhood. And he is very responsive to any questions you have during your stay.
Only one small complaint that was also noted by some other reviewers. Because there are a few bars right outside the apartment, as well the entrance to a major metro/RER station, on several nights drunk kids would make a lot of noise right outside our windows pretty late into the night (past midnight). While the wooden shutters to each bedroom did help block the noise, the drunken revelry may be a problem for light sleepers. But, as one reviewer suggested, you can simply wear ear plugs or create some white noise with an iPhone app. And, as every reviewer agrees, this one little con is far outweighed by all the pros mentioned above and in other reviews. We definitely would love to stay at Olivier’s apartment again!