Gaspard's place was the perfect place to land for a couple days of extremely pleasant jet lag recovery after a brutal stretch of non-stop planes, trains, layovers, and cabs.
Apparently it's located in what used to be the red light district, and we did see one or two faint remnants of that, but nothing that we would have noticed if we hadn't been aware of the neighborhood's history beforehand. So if you were familiar with the neighborhood before it started its transformation, don't let that deter you! The area is AWESOME, with tons of fantastic places to eat, drink, and shop (both for fun things and the essentials) nearby. It also seemed very... neighborhood-y. I sensed that a lot of people we saw out & about lived close by. Lucky bastards!!
Everyone we interacted with in the area was eerily friendly, nice, and accommodating despite our lack of French language. It was my first time in France, and it definitely didn't live up to the hype of people being mean or snooty! I suspect that might be because the people we interacted with weren't dealing with hordes of tourists all day every day.
The place itself is small for a loft apartment for two (by US standards) but plenty spacious for a hotel room. It was very comfortable, clean, nicely furnished and laid out, and the bathroom was awesome. Love that tub :P~~~
It's close enough to the metro that we didn't need a cab for the final leg of our trip there. There are lots of stairs and no elevator, so it probably wouldn't be a great choice for disabled folks or people who travel wth 10 steamer trunks of crap with them. And you'll want to have a European zone SIM card, as the main door opens via an app (Orange store is a couple metro stops away).
I'd recommend this listing without hesitation. Thanks Gaspard!