I traveled to Helens place from Australia. This involved a 33 hour flight and transfer from CDG. I'm an older woman and this was my first solo travel experience. I chose to stay with Helene because she was my age and all the descriptions about her were that she was extremely friendly and helpful. Also the location was good. Although the price of the stay was high and comparable to hotel accommodation I chose to stay with Helene because I felt that finding myself in a warm, welcoming and friendly environment would enhance my first few days in Europe. However I had to repeatedly ring the doorbell and finally rap very loudly on the door to gain entry. I was then told that I'd said that my plane landed at 8am not 7am. Although I arrived early I only met Helene very briefly at night on my way to the toilet. Earlier when I tried to recharge my iPhone and mobile I was told (By her husband? He never actually introduced himself) to use the power point in the hallway because the ones in my room didn't work. I didn't feel welcome there, I felt like an intruder. When I used the bathroom there was no soap and someone banged on the door because they wanted to come in. Finally there was no lock on my door so privacy was not guaranteed and I resented Helene coming into my room in the morning to show me how to close my door quietly, the door was hard to close because the catch was old. The room was incredibly shabby and the place smelt like my mothers nursing home. I felt really unwelcome and uncomfortable there. The next day I tried to talk to Helene, but she wasn't there so I packed my bags and left. An altogether bad start to my trip. Not at all what I expected.