My partner and I stayed at Nadir’s place for just over one month. The experience was, in short, perfect. The 20th is by far Paris’s coolest, most up-and-coming neighborhood. I’ve staid in many arrondissements over the years, but I’ve never encountered the same blend of a local, unpretentious atmosphere and a vibrant, culturally rich community. The area has the grit and vibrancy of Berlin, with all the charms (food, lifestyle) of Paris. The immediate neighborhood has dozens of bars, cafés, restaurants (not only French, but incredible Chinese, Vietnamese, Tunisian, and more), bookshops, bakeries, butchers, fromageries, produce vendors, a full-size Monoprix, late-night Kebab, an Italian wine wholesaler (6 euros for Tuscan red!), pharmacies, and thrift stores. Everything you need, in short. And it’s only a quick ride to the Center of the city on the 11 Line (it takes about 15 minutes to get to Châtelet; about 30 to get to Montparnasse). If you like walking, you can reach the Louvre in under an hour and see half of Paris while you’re at it.
The apartment itself is exactly as advertised: clean, beautifully appointed, practical. It gets great light in both main rooms, the wifi is strong, and the dishwasher and washer/dryer are extremely handy and efficient. The bathroom has two sinks and the shower is quite large, with an overhead shower head. The ground floor of the building houses a bakery, so at 5 am most mornings the apartment is flooded with fresh/sweet smells. Nadir was very communicative, offering to guide our stay but also being hands-off whenever it was clear we wanted to do our own thing. He’s a wonderful host.
What more is there to say? If you want to visit Paris a little differently—that is, if you want to avoid all the typical tourist traps and do something other than spend your time in commercial districts eating $5 macarons—you should stay here. It’s the perfect pad for a long stay, and a great home base from which to see the city a bit more like a local.