We had a nice time at Benjamin’s but had a bit of a glitch that was ultimately resolved and I appreciate although I wish I didn’t have to involve the Air BNB resolution team to have it addressed. It is a nice location for a shorter stay in Paris and I’ll list the pros and cons my daughter (13) and I had with regard to the place. The pros - great location between two great metro stations which are about a 5 minute walk, a grocery store and pharmacy on the street as well as 2 boulangeries; easy check in and check out; Benjamin allowed us to drop our luggage off early given our early flight which was appreciated; it is clean unit with nice linens and towels; private and not particularly noisy in bedrooms at night. It is in a nice Parisien neighbourhood versus a touristy area.
The cons - There are no instructions or welcome kit in the unit upon arrival so you have to figure everything out yourself - this was disappointing b/c we had to figure out the TV, the neighbourhood situation, etc. All other Air BNBs I’ve stayed in have some kind of information to assist the traveller. The unit itself is missing some key pieces to make the stay easy - dish towels to dry dishes in a very tiny kitchen - just given a used sponge and a small amount of dish soap so we had to use extra towels. We stayed for 8 days and had a VERY small kitchen garbage provided which was insufficient and gross by the end of the stay; The kitchen is well appointed with dishes, cutlery, etc. but there are NO spices or other smaller items like sugar, salt, etc. that you’ll have to buy on your own - again something I haven’t experienced at other rental units that have basics. There are also no typical wine glasses as indicated in the description but there are small juice glasses you can use. No hand towel in the bathroom so had to use extra bath towel all week which wasn’t a problem b/c there were only 2 of us but still not ideal; There is no air conditioning in the unit and only one fan which was not good during the major heat wave in July. Multiple fans are necessary and there really isn’t a place to put them safely in the bedroom as the one shelf is too thin to safely put them there so you have to drag a kitchen chair around to place it on. The ventilation is poor with no fan in the bathroom so it gets hot and humid. You can open the bedroom window but the only other window is at the front and very high - and there is nothing to really step on other than the couch for one side - this is not easy and you have to be tall to reach it on a chair so I would not recommend this for older people. There is only one door in and out and you need a key to open it so if there is a fire, you are somewhat trapped. There are bars on the bedroom window (which is understandable and welcome) but you need to keep the key in the door so you can quickly unlock it, which is scary given you have to go through the main area/kitchen to get to it from the bedrooms. The place is small so perhaps not an issue but it did weigh on us a bit. There is internet but it is VERY glitchy. The unit is relatively soundproofed from the units upstairs and hallway but there were nights when it was disruptive very late into the night. The front of the unit is all glass b/c it was an art gallery which is cool but it is very noisy - you can hear people speaking outside as if you were with them and they can hear everything in the unit as well. I was concerned that all those windows would mean the unit wasn’t dark for sleeping but they’ve done a good job with heavy window coverings on the windows and between the front section of the unit and the sleeping area which ultimate helps with soundproofing when sleeping. All in all, I would recommend the unit for short stays and not during hot weather. Based on my other Air BnB experiences in Paris and elsewhere, I give the unit a 3/5.