This was a terrific place to stay! Hilal provided easy directions to the studio from the train station. Once we arrived at Hilal's building, we met Hilal and he took us to the studio. We found pastries waiting for us, which we thought was very welcoming. Hilal spent about an hour with us, explaining how to operate the appliances, showing us on a map how to get around in Paris, offering suggestions on points of interest, and then he actually took us for a short walk in the neighborhood to show us where to find bread, vegetable, meat and cheese shops and also the supermarket. He also showed us restaurants and cafes. During our visit we went to several of these places and all were very good. Everything could be found within just a couple of blocks. Two Metro stops were very close, too. It was mere minutes on the metro to get to everything we wanted to do in Paris, and we felt quite safe in this neighborhood.

Hilal and Malika live upstairs and made themselves available for anything we might need. The street entrance to the studio is very old, but inside there is a courtyard with a new apartment building. It was quiet and peaceful. The studio is fully stocked with dishes, cookware, glasses, etc. and also has a washing machine, which we really appreciated. Hilal offered to provide a clothes rack to dry our clothes, but we had enough laundry that we decided to use the dryers at a laundromat located a couple of doors down the same street.

The bed was a futon, but it had a thick mattress and was quite comfortable for the two of us. We did not feel deprived at all. The studio was just as depicted in the pictures, and was just charming. There were books to read, free wi-fi, and Hilal even offered us the use of his i-Pad, although we didn't need it.

Hilal is a delightful and personable fellow, speaks very good English, and obviously is fully committed to making sure his guests are pleased. We were glad to briefly meet Malika, who is very pleasant, too.

We could not have been more pleased, and highly recommend these hosts and this studio.