After reading all the positive reviews, we were really looking forward to our stay Neila's apartment. Unfortunately, it was not up to what we were expecting. I understand that most apartments in Paris are probably old, but there are several things in this apartment that really should be fixed.
I'll start with the positives. The apartment's location is pretty good. You are between the Arc de Triomphe and the Trocadero (nice view of the Eiffel Tower). While Neila was out of town, she arranged to have someone meet us personally and show us around the apartment. The apartment had reliable Wifi. The apartment is safe, several layers of security and plenty of shop and restaurants around.
However, still too many issue made the stay at her apartment a bit tough for us.
1) The running water was a major problem. The water temperature would wildly swing from scalding hot to freezing cold every 10 seconds. This made taking a shower difficult and extremely dangerous for our three kids as we didn't want to risk burning them when the water would suddenly become very hot. We made Neila aware of the problem on the first night, but because she was out of town, it never got fixed. We stayed five nights, and by the end, our kids were pretty dirty.
2) I counted 17 light bulbs not working. This was a problem in the common areas as it was too dim and made reading our guide books a little uncomfortable.
3) Back to the shower, the seal around the shower does not hold, so water leaks out and the bathroom floor becomes really messy.
4) There was a hole in the wooden floor in the living area.
5) The flooring is also loose in several areas. We could feel it lifting up and sinking down as we walked over it. This probably resulted in a few spots where we noticed a few nails starting to poke up from the floors. Not enough to hurt anyone, but not comfortable when you stepped on it.
6) The toilet flush panel was broken. It looked it was being held with tape. We had to remove it in order to flush it.
This is the first time we've ever given anyone less that 5 stars, so I don't think we are being picky. If the water temperature had been repaired, we probably would have been satisfied with our stay. Being able to take a shower comfortably and safely is a basic necessity. All the other issues just added to our exasperation, and because she was out of town, she was not as responsive as she normally was.
Neila's apartment has lots of potential, but I would recommend to anyone who stays at her place to make sure the items I've mentioned are repaired.