Apartment Rental
 

My wife and I will be visiting Paris for the first time at the end of August this year. We're thinking of renting an apartment and have found some fairly good value for the room provided. Has anyone else rented an apartment in Paris for about a week?....any suggestions or advice?

Suggest you contact ChezVous 415-331-2535 for booklet containing properties for rent in Paris, and any different arrondisements. We have rented twice, the second time being this September, and they are wonderful to work with, have a contact for you in Paris in case there is a problem with property. I hightly recommend them. Have searched may sights on internet and always go back to them. good luck

Adrian, I highly recommend apartments in Paris but for August be sure to check for a/c. Most apartments in Paris don't have it and it can be miserable without it. I have rented in Feb and October and loved it!

1) Don't assume you'll have certain appliances, like coffee maker or microwave. Ask if it's not mentioned in the promotional materials. <BR>2) Appliances are smaller; count on shopping everyday or so for perishables; no side-by-sides in the kitchen. <BR>3) Shop at the neighborhood stores; it's tempting to shop in a grocery store (a cookie aisle is a cookie aisle, no matter where you are) for everything, but do go to the boulangerie for your bread, the fromagerie for cheese, etc. <BR>4) Bathrooms are very tiny; if you're Michael Jordan, find out the dimensions before you rent the place. <BR>5) Buy a telecarte; you can use it in all pay phones and also from the phone in the apartment (if you have one). <BR>6) Treat the rental as if you were going to live there permanently, with a few exceptions. In other words, if you're 6'7" and the apartment has a twin bed, don't rent; whether for a week or a lifetime, that bed's too small for you and you'll be miserable. If the TV is black and white, and you like color, you'll survive without for a week. <BR>7) Keep a journal. Somehow it's easier to find time/comfort for writing in an apartment than a hotel room. <BR>8) Take pictures of the apartment before you settle in, then after you've got your stuff around; take a picture of your first meal cooked in your apartment (tres corny, but you'll be glad you did). <BR>9) Bring an alarm clock (battery or windup) and a book lamp (itty bitty booklight or the like). French apartments never seem to have more than one clock (especially an alarm clock) and lighting is sometimes good, sometimes bad. <BR>10) First day you arrive, take an inventory of apartment to see if there's anything you'll need to pick up (no sense bringing home wine to find no corkscrew); that first day, scout out the 'hood for the closest Mo stop, the nearest dry cleaner, etc. <BR>11) Before the rental agent, apartment manager or landlord departs after showing you around, make sure you understand how the hotwater works, and how the door locks work (very funny story about friends who got locked INSIDE their apartment, and how they resolved it). <BR>

We have rented apartments in Paris before. It's a great choice. My main suggestion for you is to rent an apartment near the center of town so that you will be in walking distance of many sites. <BR> <BR>Also, when you get to the apartment, ask the landlord/apartment manager to show you around the neighborhood quickly and to direct you to the nearest market street. <BR> <BR>You will have a fantastic trip. <BR> <BR>Shel

Citadines.com/ has apt-hotels all over Paris. We loved the Citadines St Germain one in May-June. Everything was new and although it had no regular oven [had a micro] and the studio has a sofabed, it was right on the Seine, near the RER, metro and many restaurants plus the Louvre and the D'Orsay. Very clean and air-conditioned.