The most recent reviews are the most accurate. That's the bottom line here.
Here's the thing... I have no evidence that Chloé and Arnaud actually exist. Let me explain that. I'm sure they do, but they are so far removed from the process, and you are passed around by so many individuals, it's hard to tell where they come in to play. However, should they actually prove to exist, I have a couple of words of wisdom.
It seems to me, that in recent months the guys have handed over control of their accommodation to a certain company. Guys... I would take that control back. It is evident that based on our stay, the little things wrong with the place could be easily solved by a more present eye.
For example, check-in, as many others in recent months have noted - is a bit of a nightmare. The night before we were set to check in, I received a text from a random number, from a complete stranger. This complete stranger explained that he was responsible for our check-in, and asked us to check-in at 11am. This was a bit of a shock to us as it explicitly states on all prior notice that check-in was only after 3pm. I told him this wouldn't work for us, as we only land in Paris at 10:30 - but he said he had "meetings" after 12 so would need us to be there before then.
Not wanting to inconvenience anyone, we agreed we would try, and once we landed in Paris - practically sprinted our way through various metros and airport corridors to get there in time. At 11:45, whilst we were on our last metro to get to the accommodation - we received a text again telling us that there had been a mistake, and that check-in was actually at 5pm that day. Fantastic...
No matter, we continued the rest of our day - and at 4:50, when outside the accommodation, gave the number a text to let them know we'd arrived... and another text. No reply.
After 30 minutes of standing outside in the rain, someone (who wasn't the number we had been texting) finally showed up. This again goes back to our earlier point. More of a hands-on approach stops this kind of staggered, and quite frankly, confusing line of communication from complicating a stay like this.
The apartment itself, in fairness, is very clean, very well-equipped appliance-wise, and quite cosy on the inside.
The exterior alleyway its in and street its on however, aren't shown - and can be a bit of a shock when you show up. We would say, however, that the area is really central and quite close-by to everything. It shouldn't put you off - you should just be aware!
While the apartment has most things you need, we know now from going back and reading other reviews there always seems to be something odd missing during your stay here. For another couple, I see - it was the fact there was no towels. For us, there was only half a roll of toilet roll in the apartment when we showed up. For a three night stay... Not the ideal level of comfort. Again, could be avoided by a watchful eye of an owner. I'm sure the people responsible for cleaning have enough on their plates without also having to worry about every little detail of hosting as well, and I really pity the kind of stress they must be under to try and get everything right here! As we mentioned, the accommodation was very clean.
While the accommodation itself is secluded enough, one thing you don't expect is the various noises that come from the walls and the alleyway outside in the middle of the night. From scuttling and bangs, to footsteps and bins - there's a lot more activity around than you might think at first! Light sleepers like me, bring earplugs.
Check-out was also a bit of a hassle. We had informed the person dropping off our key that we'd need to be gone by 10am to make our flight and we were told this would not be an issue. 9:45am comes the morning of checkout and we receive a phone call telling us it was in fact - an issue. After being on hold and on the phone with a random representative from the accommodation - it was determined we would have to leave the key with a random shop on the street and inform the hosts of where it was. The poor man behind the counter seemed so unsure of what my broken French was trying to say, I sure hope they got it back...
All in all there's lots of positives to take from this accommodation - location, style and cleanliness all excellent. However, the lack of a responsible party is really evident in the small touches here, and really let the stay down.
Read the most recent reviews - they tell the best story!
PS: we hope this doesn't come across harsh - it's just everything we would have wanted to know!