Anyone familiar with these locations in the 4th/5th arr.?
 

I have three more possibilities to add to the list of apartments we are considering for our trip to Paris in November. Can anyone comment on the desirability of these locations? They are all two bedroom one bath apartments in a similar price range (700-800E for 5 nts).

http://www.vrbo.com/3516598ha - 75 rue Saint-Jacques

http://www.vrbo.com/116297 - 11 rue de l'Arsenal

http://www.vrbo.com/106316 - 8 rue des Archives

I think the locations of all these apartments sound good although it is difficult to tell just where the second one is as the map doesn't work for me. However, those who have reviewed it indicate it is in a good location.

I wouldn't go for the first apartment as there are no reviews of it and it looks rather gloomy. The third one looks lovely but you'd have to be comfortable walking up the stairs.

I have stayed on rue Saint Jacques , at Hotel Diana which is number 73 ( and your apartment is #75) and it is a GREAT area, quieter street but only a block or so away from busy areas, and maybe 2 blocks to Seine. Within walking distance to St Michel RER and metro, and Cluny metro, bus lines etc. Great location.
That apartment has no elevators and you will walk up three flights of stairs( its on "floor 2" which means floor 3 to us.

Second apartment confuses me, it says its in the Latin Quarter in the fifth but it is not, it is in the fourth .. I sort of don't like being misled. Not saying there is anything wrong with location but I just find it odd that they are being misleading.

Third one looks nice but may be a bit noisey, mind you in winter you won't be keeping windows open. I also note, no elevator, and it says third floor, that may mean our fourth, so there again if anyone has bad knees consider that.

Oh yes, first one does not have booth shower, only sit in tub with a hand held , many north americans hate that.

I wouldn't blame the owner for VRBO listing it as in the 5th, it could be VRBO's fault (they could make up that category, not sure) or some typo, the owner doesn't say it is in the latin Qtr at all that I can find, it's just the heading. In fact, the owner clearly talks about it being near Bastille, etc. That's a good location, it's a fairly quiet street (at least not a main one) near rue de la Cerisaie so isn't too far from the metro stop at Bastille (and there is a big bus hub there, also).

That location on rue St Jacques isn't my favorite, I don't really like it that much near rue des Ecoles, which is where that is, for various reasons, I prefer parts of the Latin Qtr that are more residential and neighborhoody, but it's okay, of course, and certainly central.

The last one is a couple blocks NE of Hotel de Ville. I think that is pretty much right on the corner of rue de la Verrerie. Corners can be noisier, I'd probably want to know if the bedroom looks onto the street or the inner courtyard, for noise reasons. in November, you'd be closing the windows, though, so maybe that isn't as big an issue.

Anyway, they are all good locations, really, convenient and central, there isn't anything really bad about any of them. I didn't really like the first apt. that much in terms of decor, but the rest is just personal and you can decide that yourself.

You all are amazing! Thanks so much for the insights. I'm not real crazy about the decor in the 1st apartment either so I might cross that off my list.

We have decided that Le Marais is the area that we want to stay in and have narrowed it down to two apartments. Which one of these location would you prefer?

http://www.vrbo.com/269169 - on Rue Vieille du Temple

http://www.homeaway.com/vacation-rental/p276294 - 18 Rue du Roi de Sicile

The apartment at 8 rue des Archives is no longer available :(

They are both great locations and only a few blocks from one another - you're really splitting hairs at this point. The Homeaway one is a few blocks closer to Metro but if it was me, I would be taking the bus or walking everywhere anyway.

They both look quiet enough - one on a very small street and the other w/ bedroom facing a courtyard.

You might want just choose based sq. footage, layout, and furnishings/amenities. The locations are too similar to choose based solely on location.

Friends stayed in the one on rue Vieille du Temple. They found that on the weekends it was quite noisy in the front of the apartment. Other than that it was pleasant and right in the middle of the action in the Marais. We visited and liked it.

Okay, great to know! Just wanted to make sure that one wasn't in a dead zone.