Sylvie’s place is beautifully and thoughtfully well-done. The location in the Marais is perfect for wandering and for getting a taste of the neighborhood’s flair. The lift to the floor beneath the apartment was a pleasant surprise. The decor and layout of the apartment makes very good use of the space, and the personal touches Sylvie left (wine and snacks, card with WiFi password) were very much appreciated. The space was small but again, used well, so we would absolutely stay here again when it’s just the two of us traveling together. The views from Sylvie’s window across the rooftops of Paris were truly beautiful. I couldn’t recommend this location or flat more to one or two people comfortable traveling in close quarters and seeking to really enjoy the character of the funky and historic Marais neighborhood, or other parts of central Paris.
The only hiccup we had was the toilet stopped working on our second to last evening. I would warn future travelers that her unit has one of the (not-uncommon) toilets that are retrofitted for apartments across France and the UK that did not originally have toilets in them. Having lived in a variety of European flats myself over the years, I’m quite used to the sensitivities of these toilets but was nonetheless disappointed when it stopped working hours after our party had last used it (and used it carefully and not in any way out of the ordinary). Unlike normal toilets, these have to be disassembled to be repaired, so we could not do anything to remedy the situation ourselves.
As soon as we realized the toilet had stopped working, we messaged Sylvie and the property management company she uses via Airbnb. The company was quite responsive, however they didn’t call a plumber for more than 12 hours. It was evening when this happened and with no access to another toilet in the apartment complex, we had to find cafes to use their toilets. Additionally, the plumber was unescorted when he did eventually come to the unit the next day to repair the toilet, which made us a bit uncomfortable given our belongings were of course in the flat. None of this was Sylvie’s fault but I did expect that a management company would do more or at least act more quickly. Again, not Sylvie’s fault and the toilet breaking seemed like a fluke, but 18 hours without a toilet was more inconvenient than we’d expected.