Sephora’s home is located about a 10 minute walk from Gare de l’est and is located within the Indian area of Paris.
There is a great little bakery just 3-4 doors down the block and a great pizza place is just two doors down.
It is quite a bit of travel to get to the usual tourist spots and we anticipated this.
The neighborhood is stricken throughout with graffiti and the night time crowd is not helpful - from not caring to move out of your way when you’re coming down the sidewalk with luggage to some disdainful catcalls. But no outward violence where I felt unsafe. The day time crowd is responsive and helpful to all the questions we had.
The apartment itself is sturdy and safe (partly due to the metal doors over the living room windows). The courtyard doors close late and open about 8am. We got the gate code from a restaurant worker but I was unaware of the need for this.
There is not a bathroom on the main floor of the home and I did not realize this. The stairs going downstairs are steep and could use a handrail. The downstairs bathroom could be really charming but the tile work is not well done. The sofas in the living area are saggy and uncomfortable. There is no dining area but a small table with expansion leaves and some fold up chairs are provided should you want a dining room set up.
Sephora left us some great coffee for our use. She was responsive to all my questions about wi-fi on the blink to where the iron was located.
Overall we would stay here again but have lower expectations of the place.