Review of #10 Rue de Fouarre
This is a mixed review.
Positives:
location is very central; Notre Dame is literally to the left, right out your door. Tons of places to eat around, metro stations, and, if you are fit (as you need to be for the stairs), you can walk most places a tourist will want to go in 10-25 min— the Louvre, Musee D’Orsay, Musee Rodin, Marais, Picasso Museum, Cluny Museum, St Chapelle, the Panthenon, etc. The neighborhoods around the apartment are really fun to explore. Lovely park between you and the Seine.
Apartment has really lovely light and the view at the beautiful Parisian apartment buildings from the apartment is magnificent. The apartment it is well laid out. For the size, the space is used very well and the natural light and breeze makes up for the small size. That is, it doesn’t feel stuffy.
The bathroom is quite decent and has a window for ventilation. Also a towel drier which is really really nice.
The apartment was clean upon arrival.
Ben allowed us to drop our luggage off prior to check in as we arrived 3 hours before it was ready. He responded relatively rapidly to my emails which I appreciate.
Negatives:
biggest issue was washer was broken. We were informed of this 3 days before we left and were told that the earliest a repairman could come out was at the beginning of our visit. That is the repair was schedeled 6 days after we were informed it was broken). Suspecting we wouldn’t be able to do laundry, we had to pack more clothes and check additional luggage ($60 each way). The repairman came on appointed day and we were told (upon my requesting information) that a repair was not possible at that time, repairman could come back 2 days later; we declined this as towards the end of our visit and didn’t want the additional disruptuption. Ben did offer to help us out with the laundry — his wife would pick up and do it for us — but we weren’t comfortable with this solution so ended up using a laundrymat (~ 30 euros, 3 hours).
2nd biggest issue is the fridge did not keep adequate temperature — just about between room temerature and proper fridge temperature. To me it seems to not close properly. I let Ben know this and we were told it needs to be defrosted. He offered to have the cleaning lady come and do this as well as clean the apartment for free mid-way through our visit. We declined this.
The walk up is long as commented on previously. On the 6th floor (American), 96 stairs. I’m fairly fit and 44 years old so it was fine but makes you sigh when you contemplate popping back by the apartment. I would definitely not recommend this apartment if you are not fit or have heart issues.
Location. I know I listed this as a positive. But there’s a down side. It is important to consider that you are in the heart of perhaps 1 of the top 3 most touristy parts of the city. So it’s congested with tourists. And you are on the edge of the Latin quarter so it’s rowdy early in the morning. We heard drunken activity loud enough to wakes us at 3-5 am about 3 times during our 8 day stay. This wasn’t a big deal for us but I note it.
The apartment is quite small. We were 2 adults, a 12 year old and a 14 year old and I would say the apartment is a bit tight for the four of us. I would recommend it for a couple. Or a couple with a small child.
The apartment is a bit tired. While clean, you definitely get the feeling that apartment is used hard. The couch needs to be cleaned and pillows and blankets need to be retired. The main counter is sticky / tacky like needs to be repainted.
In short, we were disappointed in the experience mainly for the washer / fridge issue. When we rent an AirBNB apartment, the washer and fridge are key. Otherwise, we would stay in a hotel (and not walk up 6 levels). We felt like we did not get what we paid for. I would have liked the washer to be repaired before I arrived (seems like it must be possible somewhere in Paris to find someone to repair it at short notice). And the fridge should have been working from the get-go. To be fair, Ben did offer solutions but they were not satisfactory for us — my wife was not comfortable having someone else do our laundry, and having more people come in the apartment in our absence to attempt repairs (that I suspect won’t solve fridge issue anyway) and having to avoid the apartment during that (undisclosed) time seemed inoptimal.