Apartment in Rue de Clichy - owner Mr Wunder

I%26#39;m writing this post so that anyone else thinking of booking this apartment will know what to expect.

Our apartment was located via a web search on www.travel-library.com

Of course, you never really know what you are going to get when you book something over the web. However my experience with with booking a Paris apartment in 2005 was very positive (Bridgesteet apartment in Montparnasse was VERY good - exactly as it appears on the web), so I felt fairly confident booking another apartment this year.

We chose a Sacre Coeur apartment which was advertised at 110 euro/day for up to 6 people. There were only 3 of us but the problem was we were 3 individuals and needed 3 separate beds.

Anyway I contacted the owner direct via the website and made enquiries and finally we agreed on the Sacre Coeur apartment in Rue St. Vincent de Paul. The rate ended up being 137.50 euros per night. I provided my credit card details and the agreed 50% deposit was deducted right on schedule followed by the remaining 50% plus a refundable 300 euro breakage deposit in due course. The credit desciptor on my credit card bill read SCI Wunder, Paris FR. All seemed organised and in order.

Clear instructions were provided by the owner - Mr Wunder, on how to access the apartment. An important part of the instructions was that we should phone him on our arrival in Paris so that his colleague could meet us and hand over the keys.

Luckily we followed this instruction as when we phoned, Mr Wunder informed us that the Sacre Coeur apartment was not available and that we would have to stay in his apartment at Place de Clichy instead.

I was a little put out, but what could we do? We noted the new address and arranged to meet %26quot;Sebastien%26quot; there. The apartment was not available before 4pm.

The apartment in Rue de Clichy is on the 3rd floor. There is no elevator and the stairwell is rather grotty. The first set of stairs are particularly steep. Sebastien did not offer to help with the luggage.

On entering the apartment we found that the main bedroom had a double bed. The second small bedroom had bunk beds and the main kitchen/dining/lounge room had a click-clack sofa bed. So the 3 of us had a bed each.

The apartment was clean and appeared to have been freshly painted.

There was minimal kitchen equipment and nothing seemed to match but there was sufficient to get by ... although there was no fry pan and the toaster did not work (we discovered this at breakfast the next morning).

The best thing and the worst thing about the apartment was the location.

From the dining room window you had a fantastic view of Sacre Coeur. This was reflected in the mirrored wardrobe running the length of the kitchen wall, so the person sleeping on the sofa-bed could see it from bed at night.

Everyone enjoyed the view while we ate at the dining table.

The apartment was close to small grocery shops, bread shops etc and within walking distance of Galleries Lafayette and metro stations.

The problem with the location was that on Friday and Saturday night it seemed that every car in Paris drove down Rue de Clichy and honked their horn. It was extremely noisy! So much so that I ended up putting in ear plugs and taking a sleeping pill.

On Sunday night and the other week nights - No problem! The noise level returned to normal.

The strangest thing about the apartment was the bathroom and toilet. Mirrors on all the walls, ceiling and even the back of the doors. Quite kinky! Especially with the black and white tiles on the floor.

But the shower was great! Lots of hot water - even for the 3rd person. No-one ever had a cold shower.

Another good feature was the washer/dryer. This was located in the small bedroom and plumbed so that no trough was required.

Regarding the refund of the 300 euros breakage deposit. I had to prompt Mr Wunder for the return of this. The full 300 euros is not returned. In the small print of the contact you agree to pay 3.95% credit card charge and this comes out of the breakage deposit.

Overall, I would recommend this apartment for independant travellers. The minor glitches are part of travel.

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Thank you so much for taking the time to post such a detailed and interesting review!

I, personally, would have been totally distressed to arrive and be directed to a different apartment than I booked! M. Wunder should have consulted you as soon as he decided to change your booking!

I%26#39;m so glad you were satisfied in the overall.

About the 3.95% - you do have to pay attention to the details! Actually, I find that very reasonable for the convenience of paying by credit card for an apartment in Paris. Most folks go nuts (and the fees are much higher, often with unfavorable exchange rates) meeting cash/wire payment requirements and/or having to pay the balance and the security deposit in Euros upon arrival.

Please know that even very quiet neighborhoods can be noisy in Paris. I stayed on a very quiet street last year. The day %26quot;glass%26quot; was picked up by the recycling trucks (ever other day it seemed) was deafening! And, that street seemed to be a favorite of motorcyclists in the middle of the night and early morning!

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ahh the glass recyclers LOL -- one morning in our sixth floor apt across from pere lachaise we were awakened bolt upright with the world%26#39;s most horrible sound and rushed to the windows -- a crane was lifting up the glass recycle bell and lifting it about 20 feet above the truck and dropping the glass from that height -- presumably so it broke and took up less space -- unbelievably noisy --

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Hello:

Sci Wunder is not to be trusted in returning your %26quot;breakage%26quot; deposit, anywhere from 300 to 500 euros.

We had emailed him that we were flying in early, and would like to put our bags in the room when we arrived. He agreed to early check-in in his email, saying the price was 800 Euros, 50% immediately, 50% eight weeks before + 300 euro breakage deposit.

This was my honeymoon, and I had a grand time in the city. Sci Wunder said we should call him as soon as we got into the city. We did, but got his answering machine. Three times. We found someone else was in our apartment who had been moved there because someone else couldn%26#39;t fly out. The good news was that we could get into the apartment because they were there! They said they would checkout at 11am, and we could keeps our bags there, but return, which is what we did.

The phone was rotary dialing which created a problem trying to get a lost item. Oh well, a minor glitch.

On our return, the couple that had been in the apartment asked about the return of the breakage deposit. I had forgotten about it completely! They said after a number of email exchanges, they got 400 out of 500 euros back. I wrote Sci Wunder and asked for my 300. He then claimed that I had checked in early, so there would be a 50 euro charge times 2. I replied showing his email where he said explicitly that an early check-in was OK. He never referenced that email, noting instead the contract. He then returned 160 out of the 200 he promised.

This is now three cases where Sci Wunder has not been diligent in returning the complete breakage deposit. If you read this note, do not be surprised if you get a little short changed. I know it would be trivial to win this case in small claims court here in Boston, but I guess this is one way he increases his profits. Incorporate the %26quot;extra%26quot; charge into your budget.

doug

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We rented the Sacre Coeur apartment with this landlord in december and it was a great pleasure. We were picked up on airport and brought directly to the apartment where the staff of Mr Wunder was awaiting us.

As welcome gift there was a bottle of red wine, fruits and sweets for the kids. The staff Sebastien was very gentle, showed and explained everything, gave his phone number asking us to call him when necesssary. In the vening the owner called us just to welcome us and to check if all is fine.

The apartment had been completely renewed, a new bath-room, even new windows and new furniture. For kids DVD%26#39;s were provided. It%26#39;s was absolutely clean, very beautifull lienen and towels provided etc.

The breakage deposit was returned within 5 days after check-out. In fact 3 - 4 % were retained as agreed for transaction fees.

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Hello Paul:

After exerting more pressure like the post here, it looks like the 100 euro early check-in charge will be returned.

I will suggest to Sci Wunder that the 3.95% transaction fee be charged at the time of the transaction, and clearly cited. For me, a deposit is something that is kept when you do something BAD. He did not send me an itemized bill via email explaining where the 40 euros had gone. I certainly would have been less upset if it was pointed out.

If he had treated my deposit as he did yours, I would have been a repeat customer.

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I thought about renting from this company but by the time we decided to go the apartment we wanted was rented. Maybe that was a blessing. We rented from Paris pied-a-terre and they were great. Everything was exactly as said and I got my deposit back.

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I would be furious at the bait and switch -- there is really no excuse for being fobbed off with an inferior apartment

since %26#39;Mr Wunder%26#39; didn%26#39;t apologize and explain just why he was sticking you with another apartment, I suspect he uses the nicer one as bait and frequently plays this game

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Hi,

We were lodging in several times in different apartments of Mr Wunder. Our last stay was in the Sacre Coeur apartment in november 06. We had never problems with this owner and got always very clean and well furnished, maintained apartments for affordable rates ! And many additional services as pickup on airport, free bike rental, free restaurant and excursion reservation and much of help ! Even when we checked-in at 2 am, middle of the night, it wasn%26#39;t a problem.

And the best was: Always we were received by a gentle and helpful staff. We were asked to call %26quot; a n%26#39;importe quelle heure%26quot; when we needed help or just have questions.

We know the reason why Helen was accomodate in another apartment: There was a water damage in the Sacre Coeur apartment beginning november 06 and when we checked-in we got a completely refurnished apartment ! We met Mr Wunder and he told us all his apartments were just renewed. He%26#39;s master craftman and does it himself. Never-even in hotels - we had such good mattresses, clean bedlinen etc.

We think there must be a misunderstanding with Doug.

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Goodness, the two posts reporting good reviews of this company seem to be written by the same person. Same language and descriptions of the service. Could Mr. Wunder be checking out this board?

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And both of them have only one post each

One Hit Wunders....