Anne was very communicative. She answered questions and replied to messages promptly. We had a last-minute change, and she adjusted her schedule so we could check-in earlier. That was nice of her.
The flat is well located, near the Metro, in a very lively neighbourhood, and within steps from Sacre-Coeur. The building was quiet.
Anne made it clear from the description that she lives in the flat. I was prepared for that. However, the photos that she shows in the description do not match the status of the apartment. The shelves in the living room (and the kitchen) are not at all like in the photos. The reality is that they are jam-packed with books and papers stuffed in all directions in a way that projects an image of a mess and neglect. That was made worse by two dried halves of a lemon -one of them covered in white mould- sitting on top of the refrigerator, and a lid of a jar with something that looked like wet sand with little black crumbs around it, laying on the floor behind the refrigerator. I have photos of it. Ants were visibly present in and around the living room rug. A camera tripod in the corner of the room had several used COVID masks hanging from it. The cabinet where the dishes and pots are stored was also a messy pile that made it difficult pulling out a dish without things falling out.
Anne should either put photos that show the current state of the flat or organize the flat and clean it, so it matches the current photos. As it is now it is deceiving. If I had seen photos of the current state of the flat, I would not have rented it.
Additionally, the apartment had no place to hang clothes. The one place where you could put clothes was a couple of shelves in a living room closet behind the curtain that is small and full of empty paper bags and who knows what else.
There was no coffee maker available, even though the description said there was one. When I texted Anne about it, she apologized for not having one readily available and said that: “if you feel brave here is what I suggest: if you walk down a few steps in the building there’s a door on the right hand side, if you open it there is a lot of mess, on the right hand side behind the door there should be a bag on the ground with a rice cooker and a coffee machine. A thousand apologies”. Yes, that was her reply. I went to the indicated spot and indeed there was a big mess. I was able to locate an old drip coffee machine with no glass pot. That was the end of that and thus I decided to go out for coffee every morning.
Anne had said that there would be two set of keys. This would have made it convenient so that my wife and I could go out separately when necessary. But when I texted Anne about it, she apologized for having forgotten to leave an extra set.
I have stayed in Paris multiple times in Airbnb flats where people live in the apartment, like Anne’s. The experiences I had in those flats matched the photos and the descriptions, unlike Anne’s.
Telling customers that you live in the flat that you are renting should not be an excuse to rent a place that is messy, dirty, not like the photos, and not fulfilling the description of what it offers.