Evy’s apartment was a lovely place to call home for a week while we explored Paris. It’s beautiful and full of character, and overlooks two Montmartre streets (and has a nice view of Sacré Cœur from the bedrooms). It was nice to have the windows open in the evening and listening to the neighborhood below, and the windows block out noise pretty well at night. The bakery on the corner is incredible (we visited several times) and there are vintage shops, markets, and restaurants very close by.
A few notes:
- The lift is definitely tiny! No complaints, and we were able to fit both of us in when coming and going, but when we had our luggage we had to go one at a time. As a claustrophobic person who’s scared of elevators, it was interesting!
- Most of the time, there were barricades blocking the street to cars. My mom and I are both disabled and had to do more walking than expected to meet Ubers. Just something to keep in mind if you have limited mobility.
- Communication ended up taking more time and effort than I expected, and automating check-in/out would simplify things for everyone. Evy messaged me a couple of days before we left saying she had family coming in to town and needed to tidy the place up at a certain time, so I spent a fair amount of time checking messages on vacation to coordinate checkout and ensure we weren’t being asked to leave early. Eventually it was agreed on to leave the keys with a neighbor. When the hot water stopped working our first full day there, she thankfully found someone on the weekend to come fix it, but we waited to hear if it was fixed and wondered all day if we’d be able to shower when we got back.
- You’re definitely staying in someone’s home, and are surrounded by personal belongings (e.g. their products in the shower, their food in the fridge). A few mornings, the landline rang several times and woke us up. That part wasn’t quite what we expected.
- The beds and bedding could be improved. Both beds were very firm and gave us a lot of neck and back pain. There was also only one small pillow per bed and no top sheet, and we couldn’t find additional blankets to keep warm.
Overall this is a gorgeous apartment in a wonderful location, and a great choice for a stay in Paris. Evy is kind and has a lovely home. There are just a few things that could be improved to make it a great value.