My husband and I greatly enjoyed our stay at Dominique’s apartment. We stayed there for ten days and I think the apartment lends itself well for that length of a stay. It was easy to see that the place is well cared for and Dominique has done a good job of equipping it with what you would need during your stay. I was impressed with the size of the apartment. I was expecting something small and cramped since I think that is typical of inner city Parisian apartments. The apartment was well laid out and makes the most of the available space. It is on the smaller side but I never felt cramped or that I was short on space.
The apartment includes a kitchen, bathroom, and general living room that doubles as the bedroom. The kitchen is well equipped with a refrigerator, cooktop, microwave, little oven, and washing machine. There are plenty of dishes and utensils so if you want to cook a full meal or just need an easy way to cut up fruit or drink some wine you will be set. My husband and I made breakfast at the apartment each day and were able to bring home occasional leftovers from our dinners out to have for lunch the next day. The bathroom, again while small, felt very spacious mostly due to how everything is laid out. Dominique provides towels, a hairdryer, some soaps and shampoos, and some medicines as well.
In the bedroom/main room there is a couch with a pull out bed, armoire with hangers and shelves, a table with two chairs, and a small television. The window opens and overlooks two schools. It can get a little noisy during drop off and pick up but it's really not that bad. The mattress is very soft. As someone who prefers a more supportive mattress that made it a little difficult for me but I still slept very well. The room has a small space heater that seemed to work well but it never got exceptionally cold during our stay. The entire apartment is well decorated and has been updated with modern appliances. But the building still maintains that classic French feel. It has a small elevator that is perfect for luggage. The apartment is on the first floor (but not the ground floor) so it does require walking up one flight of stairs or riding up one level in the elevator. All in all a very great place to stay and Dominique was a great host.
The main interior areas of the building were under renovations during our stay. Most of the work that took place while we were there was painting. The floors were cardboarded off throughout (including on the stairs) and ti was pretty dusty. Most of the work taking place during our stay was painting so hopefully that means they will be finished soon. This in no way affected Dominique’s apartment and all the work took place during the daytime hours so except for having to walk through it to get to the apartment it really didn’t affect the quality of our stay and I am not factoring it in on my rating of our stay since it is something completely out of Dominique’s control.
A few notes on the neighborhood. It's located in Belleville which is a little outside the main city area but still within the inner loop. It is close to two subway stops so that makes it very easy to commute into the main parts of the city. Belleville is one of the city's Chinatown areas so there is heavy Asian influence throughout. The neighborhood looks a bit rough around the edges but don’t let that fool you. It ended up being a nice area. There are multiple restaurants and cafes, wine bars, bakeries, and grocery stores in the area. It is a bit hilly so depending on which subway exit you take you will either have to walk up hill a little or down hill to get to the apartment. The apartment is located on a side street off of the main street so as long as you know in advance where to go it shouldn’t be hard to navigate.
Again, a very great place to stay. I'd highly recommend it and would be happy to stay there again whenever I am next in Paris.