The host definitely made me feel like I was welcome. The tone in his messages to me where always welcoming and kind. The entrance to the apartment building is a little worn down as is the walk up to the apartment, but nothing that I didn't expect. I did my research. The apartment itself was bright, modern and clean. The bathroom was a nice change from the traditional Parisian bathroom. Rain shower option and very modern. We stayed during a very hot weekend and there wasn't a fan. We had to keep the windows open at night. Sounds wonderful, but its a very busy and loud neighborhood all through the night/early morning. My kids (5yrs and 7yrs) slept through it though, I didn't, but they did. Not complaining about it, just sharing. It is what it is. It's Paris.
The neighborhood was next to a beautiful well kept park (where my children played every morning) and seconds to Notre Dame and the Seine. When we stay in Paris, we normally stay deeper in the Latin Quarter, but chose this apartment to stay close to friends who were also visiting Paris. The apartment was very clean. Walking out the door and almost immediately seeing the Seine was always amazing. It's always wonderful to feel that the host is there for you if needed and he definitely was there for us.