10th Canal St Martin holiday apartment

The apartment is great, in a typical old Parisien building, but modern, light and airy inside, with a nice wooden floor, and new looking furniture and kitchen equipment from IKEA. It was spotlessly clean when we arrived. It was a comfortable size for two adults for a week.

The location is very convenient with three metro stations close by, and you can even walk to the Marais, Montmarte, La Halle etc within half an hour. There is also a bus that goes down the street and takes you right to the Louvre. There are a couple of handy food shops, a bread shop and pharmacies on the street itself, or the nearby main road, Boulevard Bonne Nouvelle which is about a 2 minute walk away. The area and street itself is not touristy at all which I personally prefer.

We felt fine walking around late at night, and returning home late on the Metro, especially going to Poissoniere metro station (2 mins up the road) which doesn't have the long empty coridoors which can make you feel vulnerable at night time, and seemed to have ticket staff on duty until well into the night. The apartment itself is also felt very secure as there are two doors with entry codes you have to go through before you are even in the building.

My only negative point is that the street outside the apartment is a little bit noisy with traffic, but this is blocked out when you close the window. I think you will have this issue staying anywhere in the centre of a large city so it's not really a criticism. We weren't bothered too much by any noise from the neighbours either. If you are elderly or disabled this apartment may not be suitable as it's on the third floor of the building with no lift!

Staying in the apartment was a great experience and very good value and high quality compared to many Parisien hotels - I would definately stay there again.