The best part of this property is that it has space and a good location. It is difficult to find any other properties that provide the number of rooms and beds that you find here. An additional benefit is that most of the bedrooms are nicely separated so that you get good separation and an opportunity for quiet. In addition the entry is on the ground level so there is no need to lug your luggage up flights of stairs. The location is in a good quiet neighborhood without a lot of tourists, close to the Metro (~1/4 mile) and within walking distance (~1 mile) of central Paris i.e. Notre Dame Cathedral. There is a bakery, drug store and grocery store just down the street making it convenient to get supplies. There is also a wonderful elevated walking promenade across the street from the bakery, running for ~2 miles on what was an old elevated metro line.

The drawbacks that keep me from awarding this 5 stars are that the furniture and kitchen are medium quality at best, and the kitchen is not designed for cooking for a large number of people – it is better suited for warming prepared foods and cooking small breakfasts (e.g. eggs and bacon). Also Joel needs to work on maintenance. When we arrived the washer door hinge screws were loose as was the downstairs bathroom door handle, the dishwasher is not attached to the wall and can tip out when you lower the front door, the stair handrails attachment to the walls had come loose and a number of the ceiling light bulbs were burned out.

It would also help if Joel would provide a house-manual / guide. When we got there we did not know that you needed to dump water from the dryer to keep it working (as Americans we are not familiar with this design); it took awhile to figure out how to operate the stove; trash disposal was a bit of a mystery; and the various TV’s in the house (which do have good sized screens) have different controls and channels. Joel did respond promptly whenever we called with questions, but a guide would make things easier. A map of the local area showing the Bastille metro station and the location of the nearby stores would also be helpful.

Overall we really enjoyed our stay here and would gladly stay again.