I've been living in Airbnbs for two years straight (global nomad), and I've never been so conflicted on a review.

First, the awesome: the location is astounding. You're a five minute walk from the Seine, and seven from Tuileries. There are three grocery stores within a two minutes, and the Italian place downstairs has fantastically great pizza.

Everything in downtown Paris is steps out the front door (Notre Dame and the Eiffel Tower are equidistant). As a place to explore the city, it's impossible to beat.

It's bigger than it looks in the pictures, and very quiet. The couch is comfortable, table's flexible, and there's everything you need to cook a nice meal.

The bed downstairs is a single - so if there's more than one of you you'll need to pull out the couch upstairs (never tried it.) It's not the most comfortable bed, but it gets the job done. Shower and bathroom both work, and while you won't write home about them, you will be clean without trouble.

There's a ton of light, and it's a fantastic space. When I loved it, I *loved* it. But..

that brings us to the bad. It's an old (16th century) apartment, so there are going to be little things that go wrong here and there. That's fine. But what lets the whole thing down is the communication with the host. (A fellow American, living in NYC during my stay. So no language barriers, but definitely a time gap.)

When issues arose, I'd have to repeat myself several times before they were acknowledged, and then I'd find myself negotiating with the plumber, staying home to have them stop by (multiple times), playing middle man in communication, and dealing with the aftermath.

Responses were slow and hurried. I got the sense that the host had a lot going on, and this airbnb was on a back-burner.

This would be fine if I were a renter - but it's an Airbnb, and with the higher cost, expectations are similarly raised.

The other thing that caught me was the exorbitant cost of cleaning.

The *required* cleaning services are 32 Euros (12 for cleaning, 20?!?! to wash the sheets) every two weeks, plus another 60 euros for a final cleaning.

The cleaning person was great - but I have a really, really hard time understanding how a load of laundry is a 20 euro process.

The whole thing reeked of nickel-and-diming. At similarly-priced places all over the world, I've always found either cleaning and linens are included, or the place includes a laundry machine. To be required *and* expensive is ludicrous.

Final note: if you're sensitive to smoke, this is not the apartment for you. Airflow from the two courtyards below (where everyone in the building smokes) passes up and through the apartment if the windows are open.

In all, it's a mixed bag. Would I stay there again? Yeah, probably. The location is really that good, and knowing about the fees, I'd just budget accordingly.