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Apartment & Location Recommendation in Paris

Apartment & Location Recommendation in Paris

Old Jan 16th, 2017, 05:30 PM
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Apartment & Location Recommendation in Paris

I am in the preliminary research stage of a possible trip to Paris for November 18-24, 2017 for myself, my husband, my adult stepson and his girlfriend. We would like to stay in an apartment with two bedrooms and 1 bathroom (preferably 2), kitchen and living area. We would like to be able to prepare our own breakfast and perhaps bring dinner in one night. We would like the apartment in a good, safe area close to public transportation, restaurants, shops, etc. I have used AirBnB in the U.S. twice. My first experience was good and my second was not so good. I have used VRBO several times (also in U.S.) and have always been pleased with the accommodations. I am good with using VRBO to find an apartment. Has anyone used an apartment that they can recommend?

When we stayed in Rome, the hotel we booked with had four apartments off site that they rented. We rented one of the apartments and it turned out to be a great experience. Does anyone know of hotels that do this in Paris?

I recognize I have not given a price range. I have not done any research yet so it's hard for me to give a range. I do not want bottom of the barrel but I also do not a high end place. Most important to me is that the accommodations are clean and in a good location.

Thank you in advance for your recommendations.
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Old Jan 16th, 2017, 05:35 PM
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Almost all short term/vacation rentals in Paris are currently illegal. Not all, but the VAST majority.

So if you really want an apartment you should look at legal sites like the various Aparthotel properties. Citadines are the most well known but there are others.
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Old Jan 16th, 2017, 05:47 PM
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We have used parisperfect.com; parisvacationrentals.com; adrianleeds.com over the last 10 years we have rented in Paris. I believed, until the last rental, that these companies owned these apartments, but found out during the last rental that this is not true. Not sure what to believe, but janis is right about the "legal" apartments. Not sure if anything is being done about the illegality of the apartment in Paris.
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Old Jan 16th, 2017, 08:30 PM
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It has become a sport for permanent residents of the buildings to blow the whistle on illegal vacation rentals and contact the authorities.
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Old Jan 16th, 2017, 11:15 PM
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Try Paris Autrement( http://www.parisautrement.com/). We have found them very good in the past and about half the price of the Citadines mentioned above. They have assured us that we will be ok as they have over a thousand apartments to offer.

There has been a lot of information here about illegal apartments, but we do not want(and cannot afford )to stay in the quoted hotels/apartments mentioned above, so we are willing to continue to take the chance for the Paris experience that we have come to love, at the end of our yearly holiday in Europe.

If it becomes impossible to continue to rent an apartment we are very grateful that we were able to experience Paris apartment living. We will just have to move on to another exit destination. BUT WE WILL BE VERY SAD TO DO IT !
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Old Jan 17th, 2017, 12:14 AM
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The mayor has a 25 man task force that does nothing but investigate illegal apartment rentals. However, there are an awful lot of vacation apartments in Paris which are very lucrative for those willing to ignore the laws and place them on the market.

There was a law passed last September that required a government registration number on all vacation apartment advertisements, thus allowing tourists some assurance that their potential rentals were indeed legal. I haven´t seen any registration numbers being used yet, maybe they are but in the meantime, I might suggest you look for the following:

1. Ground floor apartments - these are always legal to rent short term

2. Apartments which are clearly someone´s full time residence - an owner/occupant may rent his legal residence for a period of up to 120 days a year. Sources such as airbnb are good for finding these.

3. Apartments which have been specifically approved by the city as vacation rentals. There could be several hundred of these. The city has a website which lists some of the addresses (but not specific apartments so use this list as a crosscheck only):

http://tinyurl.com/approved-apartment-map

I have heard that Paris Perfect lists a number of legal apartments but I have no confirmation.

What you want to avoid is to have plans in place for your stay in Paris and find out at the last minute that city inspectors have forcedly removed your anticipated rental from the marketplace, leaving you scrambling to find replacement accommodations.
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Old Jan 17th, 2017, 12:57 AM
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I have to correct Sarastro's assumption that "all ground floor apartments are legal." This is not always true. It is up to the residents of the building to decide if a former doctor's office or the gardienne's residence can be converted into a residential space.

All agencies are allowed to list properties for rent, but do not vouch for the fact that the apartments they list are legal rentals.

If the OP is looking for a 2 bedroom, 2 bathroom apartment, it will probably be expensive and most assuredly illegal.

If you are a first-time visitor to Paris, you would benefit from having a 24/7 front-desk staff to answer any questions, plus it will be nice having your linens changed instead of having to spend hours washing them yourself. The main complaint about vacation rentals is that you cannot leave your bags if your room is not ready. An apart'hotel does give you this option, and will even hold them if you have a later flight back home.

Here are some choices for legal apart'hotels, all are convenient to transportation, markets, shopping, restaurants and within walking distance to most major attractions:

http://www.residencehenri4paris.com/

http://www.citadines.com/france/pari...ris/index.html

http://www.hotels.com/ho204902/citad...A&locale=en_IE

http://www.booking.com/hotel/fr/le-r...al&type=total&
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Old Jan 17th, 2017, 05:33 AM
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This is all very helpful information. Thank you all for your input.
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Old Jan 17th, 2017, 06:40 AM
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book a suite at Robinet d'Or. They're apartments in a separate building next door to the hotel. It's just off Canal St Martin, and within walking distance of Gare de l'Est and Gare du Nort.

Robinet d'Or has excellent service and a very good restaurant on site. A baker is across the street, and a number of small supermarkets one block away.
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Old Jan 17th, 2017, 12:58 PM
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I'm not sure why a 2 BR apt would have to be illegal, I would think a person could rent that out for a few weeks of a year, also, legally. Although I admit when you think about it, it is more likely a single person, not a family, would rent their apt out short-term, and families would be more likely to have the 2 BR apts. So maybe that's the thinking.

IN any case, I know a couple hotels that used to have apartments nearby for rent, also, but they have all stopped renting those. Perhaps they were illegal, don't know (like the Hotel du Danube).

Citadines would certainly work (or Adagio aparthotels), if the goal is just to fix your own breakfast and have a table to eat at.
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Old Jan 17th, 2017, 01:20 PM
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Pay attention to citadines. If the second 'bed' is a convertible, quality of sleep suffers.
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Old Jan 17th, 2017, 10:39 PM
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The alternative would be to try to book two legal adjoining apartments, or better yet - book two legal independent apartments, so everybody will get the type of bed they want as well as full bathroom facilities.
You can always visit each other for dinners, etc.
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Old Apr 5th, 2017, 05:06 AM
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I have stayed in several Citadines and enjoyed them. However, my choice of apartment rentals are those offered by Paris Perfect (parisperfect.com). Last year I stayed in their Calvados apartment which was wonderful and I will be staying in one of their newly refurbished apartments on Place Dauphine later this month.
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Old Apr 5th, 2017, 08:09 AM
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There's a distinction between AirBnB and VRBO and agencies the vet their apartment offerings. AirBnB and VRBO are just listing services for the apartment owners. If you stayed in one good (or one bad) apartment, that's no guarantee the next one will be the same. It will likely have a different owner and may be in a different city or even a different country. If things go wrong, the apartment doesn't look like its photos or actually has somebody else living in it or the toilet doesn't work or whatever, you can report it to the listing service, but that will do nothing to save your vacation at the time.

Agencies like Paris Perfect do check on their offerings and keep them up to a certain standard. I assume their apartments are legal; might check on that.
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Old Apr 5th, 2017, 10:10 AM
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>> I assume their apartments are legal
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Old Apr 5th, 2017, 11:47 AM
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'Why would you assume that?'

Indeed why ?
The most these sites could do (and they mostly don't bother) would be to ask if the apt is complying with the laws. Guess what the renter would answer...
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Old Apr 5th, 2017, 11:58 AM
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You mean what the owner/landlord would answer.

Paris Perfect does not own all the apts they rent on their website. If you look at their website, they are constantly soliciting people's apts so they can handle their rentals for a commission.
https://www.parisperfect.com/contact...tacttype=owner


Their website seems to have really expanded and now they are real estate agents and help people buy,I don't remember that before but might have forgot.

But they do say they have high standards so they could indeed check on the legality of those on their website. I have no idea if they do or not. I mean they won't let just anyone list their apt with them, they do want a certain image.
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Old Apr 5th, 2017, 01:19 PM
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The OP has said he/she isn't looking for a high-end apartment. IMO, Paris Perfect apartments are all high-end.
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Old Apr 5th, 2017, 05:03 PM
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Have a look at https://www.homeaway.co.uk/p149617
We stayed there and loved it.
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Old Apr 5th, 2017, 06:32 PM
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Just curious, but does anyone know if Booking.com is obligated to list only legal apartments? If so, here is a link to available apartments under $210 per night for the November dates that have two bedrooms. Locations are all over the map.

https://www.booking.com/searchresult...ilter=district
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