I'll start with the positives: (1) The location is great. It's just off the Blvd Saint-Germain and within walking distance of the Louvre and Musée d'Orsay. (2) The hosts were friendly and responsive. (3) It's spacious, especially for a Parisian apartment. We were traveling with our 5-month-old, and were worried about sleeping arrangements. But there's a little entry room next to the bedroom, and it was a great place to put the baby's crib so that we could have a little separation. (4) A travel crib was provided. I didn't know it would be provided, so I hauled ours all the way from Belgium, canceling out the benefit. But I'm mentioning it for the sake of future guests. (5) It has a washing machine, which is a lifesaver if you're traveling with a baby. There's no drying rack, though, so we had to lay our wet clothes out on the table. I strongly suggest that the hosts buy one for future guests.
Despite the positives, however, I low key hated this apartment. By the end of our trip, I couldn't wait to go home. Some of these problems can be solved, but some are unavoidable. (1) As other reviewers have mentioned, it's extremely loud. It's on the first floor, with windows facing a very busy street. The windows are poorly insulated, so you hear everything, even people talking outside. On top of that, the café downstairs plays very loud music from relatively early in the morning (8 am) until evening (6 or 7 pm). It's loud enough that you can easily make out the songs they're playing. Luckily, the bedroom is away from the street (the living room and kitchen are the rooms facing the street), so the noise didn't affect our sleep at all. It just made hanging out in the living room unpleasant. (2) As other reviewers have mentioned, the ceilings and doorways are very low. If you're any taller than 173 cm (5'8"), you have to duck when you go through a door. On top of that, there are small steps everywhere. So you have to maintain constant vigilance, watching your head to avoid bumping it against the door frames and watching your feet to avoid tripping over the steps. My husband hit his head a number of times. (3) The shower is extremely inconvenient. As you can see in the pictures, there's no curtain. If you stand up to shower, you get water everywhere. You can avoid a mess by squatting, but, needless to say, that's not a pleasant way to shower, and not very practical if you have long hair. I strongly suggest that the hosts install a shower curtain. It's also important to note that, because of the low ceiling, you'll have to stoop down while showering if you're any taller than 182 cm (6'0"). (4) The bedroom has a window – I don't what it opens onto, maybe some kind of hallway or something – and when someone turns the light on outside, it shines into the bedroom. There's a screen to sort of block the light out, but it's not really effective because it doesn't cover the whole window. If you're a light sleeper, it will wake you up. The same is true for the small entry room where we put the baby's crib. The light woke him up a number of times. (5) This is a minor point, but worth keeping in mind. The staircase is very narrow and there's no landing in front of the door (it just opens up directly onto the staircase). This made getting our baby's stroller in and out of the building rather difficult. (5) Everything in the kitchen is just sort of janky. As far as I can tell, the dishwasher doesn't work; many of the pots and pans are warped; there aren't any knives for cooking (just some dull steak knives); the plate in the microwave is off-kilter and doesn't spin; one of the burners on the stove buckles when it gets hot; there aren't any tea towels, so you have to dry your hands with paper towels; and there's no drying rack, so you have to lay the dishes directly on the counter to dry. Some of these problems could be solved if the hosts took a quick trip to IKEA.
I'd only recommend this apartment to groups of young (preferably short) students who plan to use it simply as a place to crash at night. Ultimately I'd say it's not worth the price. The only things that justify its steep price are its spaciousness and location, but I think the negatives far outweigh those benefits.