We just returned home after an 8-night stay in VIP ID# 108 – the Odeon studio apartment. I can’t say enough good things about the location of the apartment. It’s right off the Blvd St. Germain, just a few steps from the Odeon metro stop and fairly close to the St. Germain-des-Pres and St. Michel stops as well. Although we used the metro system extensively, we also walked to and from many locations simply because the apartment is so central and convenient. There are hundreds of cafes in the area – any type of food or price range you want is nearby. The Rue de Bucci is steps away. There is a Picard store a few steps away, and Monoprix stores at both the St. Germain-des-Pres and St. Michel metro stops. The street itself is not officially “pedestrian-only,” but there is almost no car traffic at all. It is lined with many restaurants.
The booking process with Vacations in Paris was very pleasant and easy. It was such a huge benefit to be able to pay in U.S. dollars rather than Euros. There is a big savings there! They sent the keys well ahead of my U.S. departure, along with very detailed instructions about the how to find the apartment, how to open the door locks, how to get help if needed, how to get to/from the airport; everything was very well documented. Upon arrival, we did have some bit of trouble first identifying which door to open because all the doors in the stairwell look the same, and there are ½ floors, so we weren’t sure exactly which one was ours. We carried our heavy bags up the stairs too far and tried – in vain of course – to open the door of the apartment on the floor above. Thankfully no one was at home there at the time or I expect there might have been an awkward scene! Finally, after identifying the correct door, it took me about 10 more minutes of turning the keys in the locks just so in order to get the door opened. Once I had done it the first time, I had no further trouble with it during the week. There are 3 locks in total, but the VIP people send you very good instructions about which key opens what lock. The apartment is on the first floor (U.S.); in total there are about 25-30 shallow stairs to climb in a fairly narrow staircase.
Once inside, we found everything to be exactly as described in the listing, right down to the welcome bottle of wine (which we left for the next visitors because we don’t drink wine!) There is a double bed up in a loft (this was assigned to my 13-yr-old son), accessed by a moveable ladder, and a double-sized futon bed that I shared with my 15-yr-old daughter. There is a small table that seats 3 persons; you could probably fit 4 people there, but it would be very tight. There are two regular-sized chairs at the table, and one fold-up stool. There is a small, stuffed chair in the corner in front of a closet space with plenty of hangers. There is a computer stand with a small fold-up stool to use for seating. In the main room one entire wall is filled with shelving and cabinets. These cabinets are used to store most of the dishes, towels, and bedding items. There are some books there, including several interesting travel books about Paris and France. There are fans both in the loft and in the main area – a real blessing for us as it was fairly warm when we visited. We were quite comfortable during sleep time, but it was very stuffy in the apartment after having been out all day. We were grateful for the fans.
There are 3 windows in total; all of them open onto a small, central courtyard area. Although the apartment itself and the area are generally quiet, what noise we did experience came from the courtyard and stairwell. There is a restaurant on the ground floor. There were several times during our stay when the people there were very noisy about throwing out bottles and trash, or just loud conversations from the fellow tenants with their windows open. Our documentation warned us about “quiet time” starting at 10pm and how particular the French are about observing that. We observed it very well; our neighbors – not so much. The person in the apartment next door seemed incapable of shutting any door without slamming it forcefully. But overall, the apartment was quiet and we were tired enough each day that getting to sleep wasn’t difficult. Only once during the 8 days did we actually see anyone else coming and going. We passed a neighbor coming down the stairs, who was very warm and welcoming.
The kitchen area contains a cook-top with two electric burners and a range hood with a fan and light, a small dorm-room-sized refrigerator with a tiny freezer space big enough to hold one or two things, two cupboards above that were too high up for me to be able to reach without standing on a chair or the loft ladder, the washer/dryer unit (more about that later), and a small microwave. There is no oven. On top of the microwave is a tray holding the eating utensils. This area is separated from the main living area by a door. There is also a window here that lets in a lot of light. The doors to the toilet and shower areas open into the kitchen.
The toilet is by itself in a very narrow closet with a huge window that opens in (helpful, as there is no exhaust fan ;-) We had no issues with water pressure or flushing. Everything worked properly. The wash basin and shower are in the other little closet area. When I say “little” I am not kidding. While I am not a huge person, I am not thin either. I could not stand inside this room and close the door all the way behind me. The cabinet containing the sink sticks out so far that there is only about a foot of space between it and the door. The shower stall is raised up about 15-18 inches so you have to step quite far up to be able to get into it. The doors to the shower stall only open to a very narrow gap though. I would estimate it to be about 18 inches wide, and on the corner of the stall. There are no hand-bars or places to grip while trying to step up into the shower stall while twisting your body sideways to be able to fit into the narrow opening. It was rather challenging for me. I finally devised a method of pushing up on the countertop with my left hand while reaching in and gripping the pipes coming up from the shower temperature controls and pulling myself in with my right hand, all the while twisting my body to fit between the shower doors. I have to say I wouldn’t recommend this place for a larger person or anyone who has mobility issues of any kind. The shower itself worked fine and there was plenty of hot water.
The track for the doors had come loose from the shower stall. There were several layers of glue on it, so it was clear that they’ve attempted to fix it back in place before, with no luck. This means the doors do not close properly and there is a small area where water can leak out. We managed to avoid leaving a puddle in the floor by being very careful of the direction in which water was being sprayed from the hand-held shower head, yet the floor mat was damp for most of the week regardless. It’s rather impossible to keep everything 100% dry given the conditions. There are a couple of suction-cup hooks inside the shower, but otherwise nowhere to place your soap or shampoo bottles except the floor. I left my soap, shampoo and razor sitting on the edge of the countertop and just opened and closed the shower door to access them as needed while pointing the water flow away from the opening.
In the space between the shower stall and the wall is a hamper for towels. There is an exhaust fan in here, and adequate (but not good) lighting. Having read a couple of reviews of this apartment prior, I remember reading something about a musty odor being present. I did find that odor to be present as well upon our arrival. However, after opening windows and leaving the door to the shower area open at all times, the odor went away for the most part.
The cook-top, microwave, fans, computer, and television worked fine. We only turned on the TV once for a minute, so I can’t comment on the selection of channels. We did not use the telephone at all. The washing machine, however, proved challenging. I like to think of myself as a fairly intelligent person. I own a house. I have two college degrees and have travelled extensively. However, I could not for the life of me, figure out how to work this machine properly. I tried, vainly, for about 1.5 hours to do some laundry. I ended up with a small load of clothes that were partially sopping-wet on the bottom and bone dry on the top. Finally, I decided that since I had about two full loads of wash to do, and at best this machine might fit 1/3 of one of those loads inside it at any one time, it would be much more efficient and much less frustrating for me to take my clothes to a laundromat. Fortunately, there is a self-service laundry only about a block away. Eleven euro and another 1.5 hours later, we had two loads of clean laundry. I did not attempt to use the machine again. I did, however, e-mail VIP to ask them for detailed instructions on how to use the machine and received no response from them. In their defense, though, the documentation did say to contact the apartment owner with any appliance issues. But I was too intimidated to do that, and had decided by that time to take the clothes to a Laundromat anyway. So, I can’t comment on how responsive the apartment owner might have been. I can only recommend that you not plan on doing a large amount of washing here.
As for the futon bed, I wouldn’t exactly describe it as “comfortable,” but it served the purpose. I was tired enough from walking all day that I was able to sleep with no problem. I expect most people would have found it rather uncomfortable as there is absolutely no spring in the mattress; it’s really more like a cot. And, it sits quite close to the floor so getting up out of bed on tired, stiff muscles was interesting at times. The main issue I had with the bed was the bedding itself. Let me preface this by saying I did not look through every cupboard in the place, so it’s possible I could have missed something. But from what I could see, there is only a rather thick duvet-type of blanket and some toss-type pillows for the futon. Again, I managed… but I expect most people would have found the conditions to be inadequate. The blanket was much too heavy for summer conditions, so I woke up drenched in sweat a couple of times. It would have been nice to have a top sheet and a lighter blanket available, as well as pillowcases. I felt a bit skeeved at sleeping on uncovered pillows, not knowing whose head had last touched them!
In summary, this is the perfect place for somebody who wants a fantastic location for very little money. It would not be good for anyone with mobility issues or for picky sleepers.
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Thanks for the extensive review! This was one of the many apartments I was considering for next year but I think I%26#39;ll go ahead and cross it off my list now. I can deal with a less than comfortable bed. My fiance CANNOT!
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Thanks for taking the time to write such a thorough review.
Very helpful!
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Thanks for posting such detailed information.
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Hopefully you passed the recommendations along to VIP.
Those french condensation washer/dryers are very tricky. I found that you need to use the %26quot;short wash%26quot; and put in 1/2 the clothes you think it can hold.
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Thank you very much for posting this detailed review. We reserved this apt. for Oct. and it%26#39;s nice to know it is in a good, safe location (which was one of our priorities). Thanks to you...we%26#39;re also bringing pillowcases. =)
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Hi Jones,
Glad to see you got back ok. Hope your car issue finally got worked out. I appreciate the detailed review. I think that (at least for Americans) unless you know you have a separate washer and dryer, do not count on doing the laundry you would expect. We did manage to wash our laundry, but after drying they came out as if they had been through the spin cycle and we had to hang them to dry.
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