Room
The room was as it looked online - except three times smaller. Their dimensions shared on the website are correct, but the photographs give the illusion that it's larger.
The kitchen was well appointed for the space: it had a two burner stove, sink, mini fridge, dish rack, toaster, and coffee maker. Cutlery, pots, pans, and plates are provided. Our room had a small cafe table and two chairs. You could make food in the room, but it would make everything smell like you're food.
The bathroom is small, but functional.
There is no cleaning service during your stay - the room gets cleaned before you arrive, and again when you leave.
The walls are thin - expect to hear your neighbors as they come in and out of the hall, and as they watch TV.
Please note: you will be expected to leave €20 in cash for the cleaning service. From the translation and my understanding of traditional hotels and Air BNB, I thought this would be charged to my card or be charged as part of the reservation. Clearly I was wrong. Luckily, we had a 20 euro note left.
Location
This property is located in a charming building, on the fourth floor, of a small Parisian street. There are lots of small eateries open for lunch on weekdays, and a few brasseries and restaurants open into the evening. Two supermarkets are nearby - Carrfour City and Franprix. Both offer basics like prepared foods and toiletries, which was great to pick up items we left or things we discovered we needed.
Responsiveness of Staff
This is not a traditional hotel - it's really a collection of apartments that are managed by a team off site. The team was great to responding via Expedia messenger, we booked via Expedia. They also have a phone number to call during business hours, and that was helpful. It was clear the staff tried to help make our stay as good as it could be.
That being said the staff had a limited understanding of English, and it was challenging to get some basic questions answered. Examples: Question: "When should we leave for the airport from here if we have a 10:30 am flight?" Answer: "As long as you leave by 11 am, so we can clean for the next customer." Question: "Is there a safe in the room?" Answer: "The apartment is in a safe neighborhood."
Check in and check out is done remotely, and the staff will message you the codes to get in and out of the building and your room. This worked well for us, but we had to translate the instructions to understand.
Something to consider: the room across ours had their room door malfunction in the evening, and the family had no way to get into the room as there was no staff on duty- no one was answering the phone or answering messages. Although this was a one time occurrence, it's something to consider when booking this location for your stay.
We relied on the friendly staff at a hotel down the street to answer questions for us, as well as to print tickets to tourist attractions. It would have been nice to have a similar service or option at this location.
Airport Transportation
An option provided is an arranged car service to/from the airport. We elected to use this service upon our arrival to CDG. The booking process was challenging, as the WS staff work as your go between. They tried to book a car service for 6 hours after our arrival, and I had to double check and correct the pick up time to ensure we could make it.
You pay for the service with the driver - either in cash or with card. The agreed rate was €55. We were charged €81, but I did not know until the receipt was emailed to me. After asking the W S staff to investigate, they shared that because we were one hour late, the car service charged an additional €26 fee. The W S staff said that this was covered when they said that there was "€30 fee for no show." Again, I think this is something to due with the staff's familiarity of English. What upset my wife and I is that our plane was late due to the Air France strike: we had to wait at the gate for ground crew, and wait for baggage to be deplaned. After asking to take these conditions into consideration, the company still refused to refund the fee.
This being said - it was convenient to have this service, but buyer beware and consider paying in cash, and addressing any pricing discrepancies in the moment.
I mention this in the reviews because this impacted the stay for us. We will be taking alternate transportation to the airport.
Overall
This is a great base camp for your travels in Paris. Be aware of what services are and are not provided, and you'll be okay. After our stay, we have decided that our next trip will be at a traditional hotel or Air BNB, as they offer a better experience for us. read more