Before traveling to Paris, France, I had never used Air BNB. I most often stayed in proper hotels. However, because I was going to be staying in Paris for three weeks and was e le ting multiple guests at different times, an apartment over a hotel room seemed to make the most sense.

I looked at several places before settling on Maia's place in the Marais. The set up looked perfect for me and my friends. The location was very convenient to shops and restaurants as well as the metro. The beds were comfortable and the building extremely quiet with the exception of city traffic noise one can can expect in any urban center. However, upon arrival there were several disappointments I would be remiss not to highlight for those thinking of renting this same apartment.

The refrigerator smelled horrible due to fish p of an indeterminable age being left in the freezer. The refrigerator door could not be opened without the entire living area be consumed in a noxious odor. The freezer compartment was covered in ice and some sort of brown liquid that was frozen on the bottom of the compartment. We had to go out and buy two boxes of baking soda to absorb the odor, but only had limited success.

When not overcome by the smell of fish from the refrigerator, one could not help but notice the odor of stale smoke. We would open the windows each morning to try and air out the residence, but no luck. During the second week of my stay I found a glass jar under a chair in my bedroom containing cigarette ash.

The drawers containing the silverware, kitchen implements, cellophane wrap,etc. were full of crumbs, rice, and other debris.

I attempted to make breakfast the first morning of my stay, but was stymied when the pans I pulled out of the cabinet were greasy and not clean. Breakfast was supplanted by washing all of the pans and dishes in the house

Floors and baseboards were dirty - a depository of dust and hair throughout the house. Every surface was dusty. The white walls had numerous black scuff marks. The mirror in the master bedroom had two substantial cracks.

Three out of the four light fixtures in the bathroom did not work.

The door knob on the master bedroom does not work. The door can not be closed.

The apartment was not inexpensive. I spent over $3000 for my stay and spent a considerable amount of time cleaning the apartment to make it habitable. Before anyone rents this this apartment they may want to check in on the items listed above to make sure they have been addressed and corrected.