I am going to break my review into three parts, the host, the apartment and the neighborhood.

Sandra, our host, was super fantastic. She was very helpful in giving us information on things to do and great places to eat. There was a detailed information packet when we arrived. With her extensive time living in other countries she spoke excellent English. She was prompt in replies to our questions and was absolutely fabulous.

The apartment was very neat. Sandra is very creative and the apartment is decorated in a nice avant-garde manor. Washer was helpful to have. There is one thing that prospective guests may want to know. The main bedroom does not have a connected bath. You have to walk through the kitchen and down a hall to the bathroom. There are two steps up into the master bedroom. Other than this, the apartment was comfortable and spacious.

The neighborhood is very bohemian and multi-cultural and the neighborhood is transitioning. There are lots of Turkish restaurants and food stores nearby. Having groceries handy was a treat. Shopping for food is very easy. Also easy to pick up cooked food to take away. There are immigrant street vendors that can make a person feel uncomfortable, but we had no issues with any of them. The neighborhood is a great spot for the 20-40 something age group. There are a lot of young people at the bars and restaurants on the street at night. The sidewalks can be crowded because of this. This is great fun when you are out, but if you hit a really hot time of year like we did, and need to leave the windows open, the noise from the crowds last until way after midnight on weekdays and around 2am on weekends. The apartment is on the first floor, which means one flight up from the ground so you are close to the noise of the street. If the temperature is comfortable and you can close the windows, they are great at keeping the noise out and are virtually sound proof. There is an art nouveau restaurant just a few doors down the street and a great restaurant called “52” that has fresh and interesting food and lots of others that looked great but we did not have a chance to try. We splurged at the Jules Verne restaurant at the Eiffel Tower, but we liked the “52” restaurant the best.

Overall we had a great stay.