Paris is well-known for its high prices in accommodation, so we decided to book our room via AirBnb. We had booked a place in advance, but this arrangement was cancelled and we had little time to look for another one. Fortunately, we managed to book another place, through the same site, just 3 days before we arrived in town. The flat is located in Montmartre, in a quiet and truly stunning neighborhood. It is titled under Lovely Parisian Flat in Montmartre and our host was Dorothee.
The flat’s location is great for anyone who wants to feel they are truly in Paris, as the apartment building, along with the whole area, leaves you with this certain Parisian essence, making sure that whatever you imagined the city would look like is spot on.
The flat is located in Rue Des Cloys 26, apartment 17 and it takes roughly 15-18 minutes to get to the centre of Paris using the subway (there is one line change). The subway station is 3 minutes away on foot. There are a lot of brasseries (bakeries), restaurants, bars and supermarkets in the area and it is a fairly safe part of the city.
Dorothee’s lovely flat stands on the 4th floor of an old but well preserved apartment building (so, don’t expect to find an elevator) and it consists of a small bathroom, an also small kitchen, a water closet, a cute little living room and a comfy bedroom. There is no balcony, of course, but the whole place seemed like a palace compared to others in Paris.Upon our arrival, everything was according to the description and Dorothee was kind and willing to answer to all of our questions.
But, let’s get to the cons…The flat must be the place where our host lives, so the closet was locked, as were a lot of the drawers. As a result, our clothes remained packed in our suitcases during our stay. Furthermore, we paid 30€ for cleaning services, but as it turned out, that meant we would find the place clean, but it wouldn’t be cleaned again before we left and no-one even bothered to change the bed sheets for a whole week!
The truth is that it is a great choice for its cost to quality ratio and we recommend it to anyone with an average budget (under 100€ per night), who wants to have a pleasant stay in the City of Light. The cost was 471€ for 6 nights or 78.5€ per day (we know it is serious money, but, believe me, it’s a real bargain for Paris!). Recommended (R)
Accommodation Score (Average): 8.2
Cleanliness: 7
Owner Kindness-Service: 8
Quality of Life and Area Safety: 8.5
Room Quality: 8
Value for Money: 9
Location: 9
Benefits: 8
Breakfast: –
A few words about AirBnb:
Admittedly, we had a rough start using AirBnb’s services, through no fault of their own of course. You must be willing to take the risk, on the grounds that you have to deal with private owners and not professionals. Our first booking got cancelled by the owner just one week before our trip. We contacted the company and got our money back, so that we were able to book another place only three days before arriving to Paris! They were polite and very helpful in our search for another option. You should be aware that when making accommodation arrangements via AirBnb, you might find yourself in a pickle and, upon your arrival, realize that you actually have no place to stay, because the owners changed their mind or might not be able to rent you the place after all, for whatever reason! But, as the Romans used to say…vivere pericolosamente! Still, we assure you that you are not going to lose any money!
Scores, opinions and reviews about accommodations are completely subjective, but fully capture everything we saw and experienced without any preconception, affinity or distaste. Also, prices may vary depending on time period and demand.