Intimate Flat w/ A/C & Jacuzzi - 2br/6p Montmartre

The apartment looked impressive at first, but a lot was wrong. We were a father and adult son on a last-minute trip to Paris, and booked it because it was spacious on paper, walkable to Gare du Nord, and cheaper than two hotel rooms. We needed separate sleeping areas, but although it can supposedly sleep six, there’s only one proper bedroom. The large basement room has a full-size jacuzzi, drinks fridge, mood lighting, TV, and en suite shower. Another double bed is squeezed into an alcove at the bottom of the basement stairs, basically in the corridor, and we think the ground-floor sofa converts into a third double. The only toilet is in the basement bathroom with the shower and sink. Upstairs is a lounge and kitchenette with a microwave, induction hob, dishwasher, fridge, basic dishes and utensils, kettle, toaster, coffee pod machine, and TV tuned only to French channels. We couldn’t really see who this setup would suit, except perhaps streetwise young couples or close friends happy to share facilities. We had no instructions, so the jacuzzi was useless. Luckily we didn’t need the air conditioning, and we figured out the coffee machine. There were also practical and safety problems. The dishwasher wasn’t secured under the counter and tipped forward while loading. The bedroom safe was locked and not fixed to the wall. The bathroom sink tap turned around as you used it, and the shower doors let water onto the floor. The basement fire exit was unmarked and locked, with no working key in the box beside it, which could make the place fail rental requirements. There was damage on the stairs and elsewhere, and missing bathroom fittings, so we alerted the agents and took photos in case we were blamed. The flat needs urgent repairs and proper instructions before it’s suitable to rent, and even then the right guests may be hard to find. Getting in was awkward too. The street entrance has two keypad doors, followed by a poorly fitted, damaged apartment door that took force to open and close, with handles that seemed likely to break. Someone from the owner’s management agents met us and gave us the key, but the next day we were told to collect a fob from their office to replace the door codes. The space between the outer street door and the inner keypad door sometimes had standing water that smelled of urine. On our last morning, a homeless person was sleeping there despite the entry codes having been replaced with a fob the day before. We received no documentation, and check-in time, 16:00, was only given after payment and identity documents; checkout was 10:00, so a one-day booking is effectively just three quarters of a day. Early or late access may be possible for extra cost if bookings allow. We stayed three nights, with no daily cleaning. On the plus side, there were plenty of towels and toilet rolls, and we didn’t notice the smelly drains mentioned in another review, though we visited in November rather than peak summer.